Roundabout madness - why make things so complex?

[Foss62]

Locals in South Cambs were surprised a couple of days ago to find a lot of work going on to the ‘McDonalds’ roundabout on the A505 at Sawston. Basically all the two lane entrances to the RAB have been reduced to one, resulting already in long tailbacks from various directions.
The reason for this sabotage? It can only be an attempt to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians, but the benefit is marginal at best and competent cyclists will be in more danger, as they will need to fight for space in a single lane to use the RAB.
The original problem was paths and cycle paths forced to cross fast exits and entrances with no proper crossings. Surely the answer to that (and similar situations elsewhere) is some tins of black and white paint and some road signs? A zebra crossing at every junction and a 20 limit on the RAB and the problem is solved, with no traffic hold ups.
A cyclist or pedestrian is only likely to appear every five or ten minutes, so there would be smooth flowing traffic, even if some You Tubers would have to put up with fewer near misses to post due to the speed restriction.
So why not? Is there something in the road traffic legislation that prevents such an easy solution? I’m mystified….

[Terminator X]

Car drivers are universally hated; this is why they fked up the road, to persuade you to leave the car at home.

TX.

[Second Best]

There's a roundabout near me which has been undergoing construction/upgrades/whatever since I moved into the area over 6 years ago. It's unfathomably complicated, where you need to turn left to go right if you're approaching from the west, but you can take a little bypass route if you're approaching from the south.

It appears that I'm not the only one who thinks the new design is crap as, rather amusingly, this is the official Google Maps image:

[Chrisgr31]

A mini roundabout has appeared near me, and one of the entry / exit points has a zebra crossing on it. Result is a huge number of complaints on social media, about the stupid placing of a crossing and a number of incidents of people driving in to the back of those stopped.

The problem is a significant of road users whether in vehicles or on bicycles show no consideration for other road users, and don’t seem to realise mistakes happen.

Everyone is too full of their own rights to consider anyone else. The result is the number of incidents we have, the changes to the road layouts etc.

[Yex GTR]

Cambridge hates cars and wants everyone to leave their car and use the park and ride service so the local scumbags can have your car to rob from and drive away for a few hours whilst you are stuck in traffic on the bus to and from the car park.

Avoid the place.

[Granadier]

Second Best said:

There's a roundabout near me which has been undergoing construction/upgrades/whatever since I moved into the area over 6 years ago. It's unfathomably complicated, where you need to turn left to go right if you're approaching from the west, but you can take a little bypass route if you're approaching from the south.

It appears that I'm not the only one who thinks the new design is crap as, rather amusingly, this is the official Google Maps image:

Also, judging by some of the sharp-edged corners on the map, some routes through the junction appear to be either impossible or very awkward, such as getting from London Road at the bottom left of the map to London Road at the top right

[bigandclever]

Granadier said:

Also, judging by some of the sharp-edged corners on the map, some routes through the junction appear to be either impossible or very awkward, such as getting from London Road at the bottom left of the map to London Road at the top right

If you can't turn the round thing in front of you, maybe

Quick googly drive also threw out this candidate for the bad parking thread ..

[Clive-sz8cz]

Behold the wonder that is the Fareham Tesco roundabout. Learners are normally reduced to tears on their first few encounters........

[Scarletpimpofnel]

Second Best said:

There's a roundabout near me which has been undergoing construction/upgrades/whatever since I moved into the area over 6 years ago. It's unfathomably complicated, where you need to turn left to go right if you're approaching from the west, but you can take a little bypass route if you're approaching from the south.

It appears that I'm not the only one who thinks the new design is crap as, rather amusingly, this is the official Google Maps image:

That turning right to go left (if approaching from the West) looks ridiculous and must result in more congestion and pollution? Why not allow a left turn there? I've seen many such things that make no sense.

[Solocle]

Scarletpimpofnel said:

Second Best said:

There's a roundabout near me which has been undergoing construction/upgrades/whatever since I moved into the area over 6 years ago. It's unfathomably complicated, where you need to turn left to go right if you're approaching from the west, but you can take a little bypass route if you're approaching from the south.

It appears that I'm not the only one who thinks the new design is crap as, rather amusingly, this is the official Google Maps image:

That turning right to go left (if approaching from the West) looks ridiculous and must result in more congestion and pollution? Why not allow a left turn there? I've seen many such things that make no sense.

I think the idea is that the main movement is A30-A30, so it's prioritised.
5:27:57 if the timecode doesn't work.

[ZedLeg]

Clive-sz8cz said:

Behold the wonder that is the Fareham Tesco roundabout. Learners are normally reduced to tears on their first few encounters........

The only bit of that I can't follow is this, who's that for?

[MKnight702]

Yex GTR said:

Cambridge hates cars and wants everyone to leave their car and use the park and ride service so the local scumbags can have your car to rob from and drive away for a few hours whilst you are stuck in traffic on the bus to and from the car park.

Avoid the place.

You are not wrong. They keep trying to get plans for a "congestion zone" scheme through. However, their idea of a "congestion zone" is anywhere within sight of Cambridge, up to and including the out of town science parks. One might be persuaded that they just want to boost the Council coffers with cash from people that have no choice but drive to work. But at least the locals can be secure in the knowledge that the additional cash will not be wasted on something stupid like a Dutch style roundabout to ensure that the maximum number of suicidal cyclists can come into contact with desperate motorists.

[boyse7en]

ZedLeg said:

Clive-sz8cz said:

Behold the wonder that is the Fareham Tesco roundabout. Learners are normally reduced to tears on their first few encounters........

The only bit of that I can't follow is this, who's that for?

Isn’t that bit needed for anyone exiting Tesco who wants to go anywhere other than take the A32 Eastwards?

[ZedLeg]

Ah yeah, you're right. My eyes couldn't make out the the traffic lights in the image. I thought that would be a bit of a scary crossing without them

[Miserablegit]

Foss62 said:

Locals in South Cambs were surprised a couple of days ago to find a lot of work going on to the ‘McDonalds’ roundabout on the A505 at Sawston. Basically all the two lane entrances to the RAB have been reduced to one, resulting already in long tailbacks from various directions.
The reason for this sabotage? It can only be an attempt to make things safer for cyclists and pedestrians, but the benefit is marginal at best and competent cyclists will be in more danger, as they will need to fight for space in a single lane to use the RAB.
The original problem was paths and cycle paths forced to cross fast exits and entrances with no proper crossings. Surely the answer to that (and similar situations elsewhere) is some tins of black and white paint and some road signs? A zebra crossing at every junction and a 20 limit on the RAB and the problem is solved, with no traffic hold ups.
A cyclist or pedestrian is only likely to appear every five or ten minutes, so there would be smooth flowing traffic, even if some You Tubers would have to put up with fewer near misses to post due to the speed restriction.
So why not? Is there something in the road traffic legislation that prevents such an easy solution? I’m mystified….

I had hoped they were merely painting arrows on the lanes to try to reduce the number of clowns who were going into the right hand lane and then cutting across the left lane to go straight on. I guess this stops it but at the cost
of massive delays.

[Vanity Projects]

Second Best said:

There's a roundabout near me which has been undergoing construction/upgrades/whatever since I moved into the area over 6 years ago. It's unfathomably complicated, where you need to turn left to go right if you're approaching from the west, but you can take a little bypass route if you're approaching from the south.

It appears that I'm not the only one who thinks the new design is crap as, rather amusingly, this is the official Google Maps image:

To be fair, the crooked billet roundabout has been dogst for 20+ years.

[Marcellus]

Vanity Projects said:

To be fair, the crooked billet roundabout has been dogst for 20+ years.

40+ I reckon…. That said if you look at it that the A30 goes straight through it and everyone/thing else goes around it then you’ve got no issue.

[RB CV8]

Miserablegit said:

I had hoped they were merely painting arrows on the lanes to try to reduce the number of clowns who were going into the right hand lane and then cutting across the left lane to go straight on. I guess this stops it but at the cost
of massive delays.

The trouble is, the islands that have been installed to narrow the exits are on the left hand side, so anyone taking the conventional route on the left-hand lane is faced with a ridiculous pedestrian refuge right in front of them as they exit the roundabout.

It is not a "proper" narrowing of the exits by bringing the kerb out so there is some sort of flow from the roundabout, it is, as usual in Cambs where roads are concerned, a cheap and nasty method of tackling what I doubt was an issue in the first place. From what I have seen of it, it is also dangerous.

The more impatient drivers will still take the right-hand lane, only now it is actually the easiest way to exit the roundabout.

The design is utter stupidity, and I am sure there will be frequent accidents, and it wouldn't surprise me if the odd pedestrian standing on one of the new islands waiting to cross gets wiped out too.

[V10Mike]

So this morning, I was interested to see that after weeks of queues they have removed the restriction on the southbound entry to the roundabout from the A1301. An attack of common sense, or am I hoping too much?

[oyster]

Marcellus said:

Vanity Projects said:

To be fair, the crooked billet roundabout has been dogst for 20+ years.

40+ I reckon…. That said if you look at it that the A30 goes straight through it and everyone/thing else goes around it then you’ve got no issue.

Crooked Billet only causes such confusion if you think of it as a roundabout. It's not.
It's a junction.