The New York Times Green Inc. blog writes that roundabouts are increasing in the U.S. for a variety of reasons, including that drivers use 30 percent less gas than with traffic signals, they are safer to drivers and pedestrians, and are cheaper to maintain than traffic signals. But apparently, U.S. drivers have not yet caught on to the idea — thinking they smaller traffic circles are confusing.
We might add that these measures, if properly designed, can beautify the streetscape with gardens, plants or flowering trees. Unlike traditional traffic circles, most modern roundabouts do not create pathways through them and divert pedestrian traffic around. So they aren’t really parks, but they can bring the feel of a park into the city. The website roundabouts.net makes the case for roundabouts in a variety of forms.
Roundabout in Clearwater Beach, Florida (roundabouts.net)
Filed under: transportation | Tagged: roundabouts&circles
Roundabouts are great, but there seems to be a lot of pushback from both the general public and confused engineers. That roundabout in Clearwater pictured here is just gorgeous.
[...] Parks blog explains the merits of [...]