I have long considered this roadway change to be a great way to reduce traffic congestion. My friends in the UK will wonder why the US has taken so long to embrace this simple approach. When I drove to work in Coventry, England, from my home in the West Midlands, I could usually make it all the way without stopping once. No idling, saves fuel, saves time, just works! Might even help Autonomous Vehicles be safer as there is no need for the “eye to eye” head nod required at 4-way stops. Of course roundabouts are nearly incompatible with cupholders (learned that the hard way) and they require drivers to actually understand how they work. In the US, many drivers unfamiliar with them stop in the middle of them, causing even bigger issues. And the enormous SUV’s that American’s seem to favor are not the best at handling quick right- left – right maneuvers. Roundabouts beg for more agile traffic conveyances. But I would love to see more of these. Maybe it can be a subcategory of the Infrastructure legislation? Let’s get rid of stop signs and replace all the intersections with a system that makes life smoother. #intelligenttransportation #roundabout #infrastructure
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