Quickest a roundabout has been removed

[tradephoric]

Clark County constructed a single-lane roundabout at Sahara Avenue and S Hollywood Boulevard in 2016.  In just 3 years they reconfigured the intersection back to a signalized intersection.  A quick newscast about the removed roundabout:

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/cone-zone-hollywood-boulevard-roundabout-removed/video_cac02d5b-4d52-51df-940b-3b1d929a0d7c.html

What is the quickest a roundabout has been removed?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

If anyone here was going to know that I would have assumed it would ne you.

[SSR_317]

Makes one wonder if someone in the Clark County Highway Department may be getting some "unofficial compensation" (i.e., kickback) from a traffic signal manufacturer/distributor? Or has a relative living in that area who belongs to the NIMBY crowd.

[tradephoric]

There was a project in 2019 to install bike lanes along Hollywood Blvd from Lake Mead Blvd to Charleston Blvd (which is only a mile north of Sahara Avenue).  Clark County was proposing a 5-lane road with bike lanes and widened sidewalks but interestingly a lot of people that attended the public meetings were pushing for a two-lane road with a center median... Clark County ultimately decided to build a 5-lane road.  Then in 2020 the Clark County Commission approved a $36 million 10 mile extension of Hollywood Blvd from Vegas Valley Drive to Galleria Drive that would link Sunrise Manor and Henderson. Not sure if either of these projects (which weren't directly related to the Sahara/Hollywood roundabout) played a part in getting the roundabout removed.

EDIT:  The most probable reason though is the roundabout was built right next to Las Vegas High School.  The county probably was getting a lot of pushback from the parents.

[jakeroot]

From some googling, another short-lived roundabout was at McLoughlan St and Topsail Rd in St Johns, NL:

https://goo.gl/maps/b1t72X4ywax9ycjY6

It existed from 2012 to 2014. The council was unimpressed by it, and disagreed with it even being called a roundabout. So keep that in mind!

I see you have a thread about removed roundabouts. Most examples probably would end up in there, as I don't think roundabout removal, much less a quick removal, is common anyways.

[tradephoric]

Kittlelson and Associates put together a roundabout database and from there you can search by "removed" roundabouts.  Between their database and the known roundabouts that i am familiar with, there are about 35 known roundabouts in America that have been removed. 

[SectorZ]

Makes one wonder if someone in the Clark County Highway Department may be getting some "unofficial compensation" (i.e., kickback) from a traffic signal manufacturer/distributor? Or has a relative living in that area who belongs to the NIMBY crowd.

Big traffic signal. The bane of the roundabout lobby.

[stevashe]

Clark County constructed a single-lane roundabout at Sahara Avenue and S Hollywood Boulevard in 2016.  In just 3 years they reconfigured the intersection back to a signalized intersection.  A quick newscast about the removed roundabout:

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/cone-zone-hollywood-boulevard-roundabout-removed/video_cac02d5b-4d52-51df-940b-3b1d929a0d7c.html

What is the quickest a roundabout has been removed?

The bolded part is incorrect. Streetview shows this intersection was a 4-way stop before the roundabout. Also given they way it was built with just having curbs slapped on top of the existing pavement makes me think it was planned to be temporary all along, not to mention it's a single lane roundabout connecting to streets with two lanes per direction on all four legs.

So I don't buy that this was a problem with the roundabout. This smells more like an interim upgrade between the 4-way stop and traffic light to me. Possibly because it didn't meet the warrants for a light in 2016, but does now, or they didn't have the money for a stoplight in 2016.

[vdeane]

I would think it's a question of traffic growth requiring a signal now.  I would think a roundabout as an interim measure would be more expensive due to the re-configuring of the pavement to put it in and again to take it out.

[stevashe]

I would think it's a question of traffic growth requiring a signal now.  I would think a roundabout as an interim measure would be more expensive due to the re-configuring of the pavement to put it in and again to take it out.

Normally, yes, but as I noted in my last message, the roundabout's channelization was just constructed with curbs and islands "glued" to the pavement. That is what leads me to believe it was an interim measure. You can see in the post-roundabout streetview that the pavement is not new, and has some scarring where the curbs were removed.

[roadfro]

Clark County constructed a single-lane roundabout at Sahara Avenue and S Hollywood Boulevard in 2016.  In just 3 years they reconfigured the intersection back to a signalized intersection.  A quick newscast about the removed roundabout:

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/cone-zone-hollywood-boulevard-roundabout-removed/video_cac02d5b-4d52-51df-940b-3b1d929a0d7c.html

What is the quickest a roundabout has been removed?

The bolded part is incorrect. Streetview shows this intersection was a 4-way stop before the roundabout. Also given they way it was built with just having curbs slapped on top of the existing pavement makes me think it was planned to be temporary all along, not to mention it's a single lane roundabout connecting to streets with two lanes per direction on all four legs.

So I don't buy that this was a problem with the roundabout. This smells more like an interim upgrade between the 4-way stop and traffic light to me. Possibly because it didn't meet the warrants for a light in 2016, but does now, or they didn't have the money for a stoplight in 2016.

I seem to recall that there was a spat of speeding / reckless driving incidents along that stretch of Hollywood Blvd, and possibly a pedestrian hit & run, several years ago. If that's the case (I didn't research to confirm), and given the observations by stevashe, the roundabout was likely a temporary measure in response to that.

Hollywood Blvd is along the eastern edge of the Las Vegas Valley, and is the easternmost major arterial in much of the valley. It's also in an area where there's still some new residential developments going in, so the road has been slowly getting widened and experiencing more traffic over the years as more stuff is built.

It's also worth noting from the street view posted that some of the legs of this intersection were not yet full width when the roundabout went in, but some of the developed corners have a future signal pole installed already. It is common practice in the Vegas area to require a developer to install such a pole when building out a property on an arterial corner where a signal is likely to be installed in the future.

So all that makes me think that the roundabout was planned to be temporary all along.

[jakeroot]

It's also worth noting from the street view posted that some of the legs of this intersection were not yet full width when the roundabout went in, but some of the developed corners have a future signal pole installed already. It is common practice in the Vegas area to require a developer to install such a pole when building out a property on an arterial corner where a signal is likely to be installed in the future.

I also would assume that if the roundabout were meant to be permanent, the signal poles (three of which appear to be nearly 15 years old) would have been removed shortly after the roundabout were built. Instead, they remained throughout the life of the roundabout and were eventually utilized as part of the signal installation.

The wiring out to the center lights was also very temporary-looking.

One possible argument in favor of it intending to be permanent may be that roundabouts are not the default consideration for intersections in the city, so the signal poles were installed before more careful consideration of flow at that intersection took place. Possibly, around 2016, it was instead decided that a roundabout were better, so that was installed instead. Perhaps the plan was to eventually install permanent roundabout features, and remove the signal poles, but they never got around to it before reconsideration took place, and the roundabout was instead replaced by a signal.

[roadfro]

One possible argument in favor of it intending to be permanent may be that roundabouts are not the default consideration for intersections in the city, so the signal poles were installed before more careful consideration of flow at that intersection took place. Possibly, around 2016, it was instead decided that a roundabout were better, so that was installed instead. Perhaps the plan was to eventually install permanent roundabout features, and remove the signal poles, but they never got around to it before reconsideration took place, and the roundabout was instead replaced by a signal.

Possibly... But Sahara Ave & Hollywood Blvd are both section line arterials (typical ROW for three lanes each way). It's highly unlikely that a roundabout would have been seriously considered for permanent install there. You don't really find that in Vegas...roundabouts tend to be on collector roads or lower functional class roads.

[jakeroot]

One possible argument in favor of it intending to be permanent may be that roundabouts are not the default consideration for intersections in the city, so the signal poles were installed before more careful consideration of flow at that intersection took place. Possibly, around 2016, it was instead decided that a roundabout were better, so that was installed instead. Perhaps the plan was to eventually install permanent roundabout features, and remove the signal poles, but they never got around to it before reconsideration took place, and the roundabout was instead replaced by a signal.

Possibly... But Sahara Ave & Hollywood Blvd are both section line arterials (typical ROW for three lanes each way). It's highly unlikely that a roundabout would have been seriously considered for permanent install there. You don't really find that in Vegas...roundabouts tend to be on collector roads or lower functional class roads.

Which is true, but highly ironic given Summerlin's multiple large roundabouts along Town Center/Village Center that were the first of their kind in the US. And those four are definitely not along collector roads.

In fact, I'm surprised roundabouts never gained popularity given how early they showed up in Las Vegas. I guess those four were just so monstrous that people got a bit turned-off by them.

[jamess]

Clark County constructed a single-lane roundabout at Sahara Avenue and S Hollywood Boulevard in 2016.  In just 3 years they reconfigured the intersection back to a signalized intersection.  A quick newscast about the removed roundabout:

https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/cone-zone-hollywood-boulevard-roundabout-removed/video_cac02d5b-4d52-51df-940b-3b1d929a0d7c.html

What is the quickest a roundabout has been removed?

At 0:35, note the pickup truck that blows through the stop sign without even slowing down to take a left turn

[HighwayStar]

Makes one wonder if someone in the Clark County Highway Department may be getting some "unofficial compensation" (i.e., kickback) from a traffic signal manufacturer/distributor? Or has a relative living in that area who belongs to the NIMBY crowd.

Big traffic signal. The bane of the roundabout lobby.

Yeah this kind of thinking is borderline tinfoil hat. The real reason is probably much closer to the fact that the taxpayers did not want the roundabout in the first place.

[jakeroot]

Makes one wonder if someone in the Clark County Highway Department may be getting some "unofficial compensation" (i.e., kickback) from a traffic signal manufacturer/distributor? Or has a relative living in that area who belongs to the NIMBY crowd.

Big traffic signal. The bane of the roundabout lobby.

Yeah this kind of thinking is borderline tinfoil hat. The real reason is probably much closer to the fact that the taxpayers did not want the roundabout in the first place.

I'm fairly certain you missed some sarcasm; the companies that make up traffic signal manufacturing don't exactly have big lobbying arms. Certainly they don't possess any powers akin to those possessed by, say, 'big data'.

[roadfro]

One possible argument in favor of it intending to be permanent may be that roundabouts are not the default consideration for intersections in the city, so the signal poles were installed before more careful consideration of flow at that intersection took place. Possibly, around 2016, it was instead decided that a roundabout were better, so that was installed instead. Perhaps the plan was to eventually install permanent roundabout features, and remove the signal poles, but they never got around to it before reconsideration took place, and the roundabout was instead replaced by a signal.

Possibly... But Sahara Ave & Hollywood Blvd are both section line arterials (typical ROW for three lanes each way). It's highly unlikely that a roundabout would have been seriously considered for permanent install there. You don't really find that in Vegas...roundabouts tend to be on collector roads or lower functional class roads.

Which is true, but highly ironic given Summerlin's multiple large roundabouts along Town Center/Village Center that were the first of their kind in the US. And those four are definitely not along collector roads.

In fact, I'm surprised roundabouts never gained popularity given how early they showed up in Las Vegas. I guess those four were just so monstrous that people got a bit turned-off by them.

You are right that the Town Center roundabouts are closer to principal arterial than collector–although they are not "section line" arterials as Sahara & Hollywood are. Summerlin (and many master-planned communities that came after it) tend to break up the section line roadways or put them onto curvilinear alignments.

The two roundabouts on Village Center (north of Summerlin Pkwy) are the original two from circa 1990 and are a bit more traffic circle-y in nature–the two on Town Center just south of Summerlin Pkwy were installed circa 1995 (and didn't start seeing much build up around them for a couple years after that), and are constructed more closely with typical modern roundabout design characteristics. But these weren't so off-putting that more roundabouts didn't get constructed–you'll find many a roundabout in Summerlin constructed after these, but on roads more collector-like in nature. I think the Town Center roundabouts in particular ended up being a lesson in not placing roundabouts on arterials (Town Center & Hualapai in particular, originally being a 3x3 roundabout and receiving modification in the early 2000s to a 2x2 with right turn bypasses on all approaches alleviating some of the issues).