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Yup. They put them all over central Ohio and it's the same.
The powers that be claim they are cheaper than stop lights and safer than 4 way stops. Bullshit.
Round abouts
- Thread starter GregN
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Yup. They put them all over central Ohio and it's the same.
The powers that be claim they are cheaper than stop lights and safer than 4 way stops. Bullshit.
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They are whe you know how to use them. The idea is that because everyone is yielding, and potentially not fully stopping, you have constant motion. And when drivers all indicate correctly, and stay in the correct lane (outside for exiting, inside for working towards your exit) it works well, and is effective. When you slap them up overnight with a public who by and large have no idea how to operate them well that's a dilly of a pickle.
Alpha Skyhawk
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I don't know what your definition of yielding is, but here in New Jersey, I was taught in school that a yield sign means that if you can't safely proceed without stopping, then you don't. You stop instead and proceed when it becomes safe.
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If they wanted you to come to a complete stop they'd have a stop sign there. Yield means to proceed with caution. I've been driving through rotarys on a daily basis for almost 20 years and the only people ever seen get into accidents there are those that stop at the entry to the rotary or those who don't understand the concept of merging.
Alpha Skyhawk
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No, stop signs are for when they want you to come to a complete stop no matter what. Yield signs are for when they want you to stop when it's necessary and yield to the other traffic. Otherwise they should have just called it proceed with caution.
The definition of yield is to give way to arguments, demands, or pressure, not to carefully insert yourself into it.
Alpha Skyhawk
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More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_sign
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Yeah I know what it means....exactly what I just said. I'm not saying that you just drive head on into the cars in the rotary. You slow your speed on approach and merge. YOU DONT STOP AT A ROTARY!
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More info for you http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/safety/roundabouts/
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I can almost guarantee they are cheaper than lights.
A pretty basic traffic light can run 250k+ plus they cost money to operate.
That sorta cash buys a lot of tin signs.
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250K would be an odd circumstance where there had never been a traffic light, all components were bought new, and the city chose to do insane pre-engineering and survey time. I know because I was involved way more than I ever wanted to be in stoplights being installed near our hospital campus. The lights were at our request and our cost. Initial bid came in just under $200. We ended up sub-contracting out each bit; rather than having one contractor handle the whole project.
Columns are $8-15K/ea x4 depending on style, BUT, you can get them for significantly less secondhand and in many cases you can't even tell they are "used".
Light heads are $2,500/ea - so $20K for a 4-way.
Computer - $8K
Column install - $5K
Electric install - $6K
We opted against "recommended" survey - which often (crazily) is the most expensive part of the stoplight - one company quoted us 40K. Seriously, 40K to count cars that passed in each direction 7/days a week at all hours. You can adjust settings. Why anyone would ever do this survey other than "it's what your supposed to do" is insane. Tweak it as needed.
We ended up putting in a new 4 way traffic light stop for under 100K. Annual power is around 7K.
Roundabouts are still cheaper tho, yes.
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Cherry Hill, NJ area is the first time I encountered streets you can't make left turns on, you have to make a right, circle around to the light, then wait at the same light and then go through when green. I hate that more than roundabouts.
As far as roundabouts, they installed one around Swarthmore College near me. There were about four different entrances at different angles to the same street, with them adding another road to a baseball field, and I have to say it really does help keeping traffic moving.
On the other hand, a friend of mine lives in a development, and practically every street intersection has them. Since he doesn't live in a high traffic area, it is really annoying to have to navigate through about four of these to get to his house.
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Alpha Skyhawk
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This is literally saying that you yield to drivers in the roundabout and only proceed when there's a break in the traffic. Watch the video at the 2:05 mark. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about.
The only thing about not stopping is making sure you don't stop while you're actually already in the roundabout.
Your logic is not reflected in this webpage, and your logic is dangerous. Stop it.
Alpha Skyhawk
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Yeah, jughandles. NJ's famous for them. They're kind of annoying, but they're not that bad once you get used to them. At least your sense of direction isn't being completely borked. With roundabouts/circles, you've got to wonder if you're heading in the right direction if you're not familiar with the area.
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Mesa, AZ has put them up in many intersections, mostly around malls and shopping centers.
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Yeah it says "do not stop IN the roundabout", as in, once you're inside the circle.
I'd stop if there is a car approaching my entry, I wouldn't gun the gas to merge, lol
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Thanks for the correction. That came from a course I took and it was a broad 'infrastructure' type class and the traffic control was only a few minutes, so the number was given with very little context or detail. I did a quick Google search and saw some info that seemed to confirm that they are damn expensive, but maybe that's all 'by the book' type numbers including the surveys that you mentioned.
JasonToddLives
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In most areas here they are ornamental and largely unnecessary.
There was a two-lane roundabout in the vicinity of my work that was a disaster. People would suddenly (and without warning) veer out from the inside lane to exit the circle. I even saw a bus do it once. It led to so many accidents the city eventually painted in giant chevrons and made it all one lane.
Alpha Skyhawk
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I know, right?
I love how I didn't just win this argument, I completely obliterated it, and I even used DecepticonZero's own sources against him.
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I was looking specifically at the multi lane rotary part, probably should have read the whole thing. Yield does not mean stop. If they wanted you to stop there they would have put up a stop sign. Yield means to proceed with caution and stop if traffic conditions dictate it. You should never have to stop in a two lane rotary as you're only in the outer lane to get in and out of it and those are nowhere near each other. If you stop at a two lane rotary you're gonna get rear ended someday. Enjoy.
Alpha Skyhawk
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Damage control.