TheWorldIsNotEnough
New Member
*double post*
Last edited:
|
|
|
Roads: Roundabouts
- Thread starter BMO
- Start date
adma
Superstar
It was indeed a traffic circle (technically a bit different from a roundabout; don't ask)--the QEW was the first to plow through it when it was "upgraded" in the 1950s, but the vestige remained in Southdown/Erin Mills form until the past decade...
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Roundabouts are much safer for us motorcyclists, eliminating the risk of someone turning left in front of you and of being sideswiped by someone running an intersection.
howl
Active Member
Ack! That is going to be a disaster. Why? Roundabouts are great for keeping vehicles moving. The statistics also say they are safer for pedestrians, but that doesn't mean they are pedestrian-friendly. They also take up a lot of real estate.
Downtown 21 is suppose to be turning downtwon Mississuaga into a pedestrian-priority urban neighbourhood. Putting roundabouts in will make walking along Duke of York un-appealing to pedestrians (not to mention cyclists).
Roundabouts have their place, but not in pedestrian-oriented city centres. They should be used on the ouskirts of cities where cars are many and pedestrians are few, or at very awkward interstions with more than four road coming into it.
BMO
Senior Member
When I've been in Spain, there are very busy streets that meet uncontrolled roundabouts (meaning no traffic lights to coordinate the vehicle movement), and there seems to be lots of pedestrian activity. In fact considering that most roundabouts are more aestethically pleasing, with lanscaped centres and whatnot, I would probably opt to walk a route that has roundabouts. With a roundabout the pedestrian always gets the right of way and usually the distance to cross over to the other side of the street is less than that of a four way intersection, where pedestrians often have to wait quite a bit before being allowed to cross. So in reality from my experience roundabouts made walking more enjoyable and a much quicker option.
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
Wow, a "roundabouts are pro car" post. Now I've seen it all.
nfitz
Superstar
As a driver, roundabouts are great! Nothing worse than sitting at a traffic light, with no cars about, waiting endlessly for the lights to change. With roundabouts you never have to stop moving, except to merge for a few seconds. Much safer (no T-bone collisions ... less deaths), much greener (less idling), cheaper to operate (no signals to maintain - works great in power failures), and a lot easier to turn left at a busy intersection.
I can't think of anything less pro-car than a roundabout!
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
That's just it. Aside from keeping traffic flowing roundabouts are traffic calming, prevent pollution caused by the stop-and-go of stop signs and traffic lights, etc. So for the OP to say roundabouts only help vehicular traffic and don't do anything for nieghborhoods or pedestrians is, well, asinine.
I can't think of anything that is more win-win-win in traffic planning.
Markster
Senior Member
I rather like roundabouts as a pedestrian. You only have to look out for traffic in a single direction.
The only problem I have with the current trend of modern canadian roundabouts is that they seem rather over-designed. Larger than strictly necessary, with the odd full lane width curb on the inside.
In Waterloo Region, one of my favourite roundabouts is the one at Margaret and Union. A small and simple curb in the middle, fairly tight turn radius, but it's mountable by large vehicles that don't have the same turning radius.
Personally, I can't wait for them to start considering mini roundabouts on small suburban streets to get rid of stop signs. I was driving around Vancouver and encountered a lot of these.
The only problem I have with the current trend of modern canadian roundabouts is that they seem rather over-designed. Larger than strictly necessary, with the odd full lane width curb on the inside.
In Waterloo Region, one of my favourite roundabouts is the one at Margaret and Union. A small and simple curb in the middle, fairly tight turn radius, but it's mountable by large vehicles that don't have the same turning radius.
Personally, I can't wait for them to start considering mini roundabouts on small suburban streets to get rid of stop signs. I was driving around Vancouver and encountered a lot of these.
Last edited:
BMO
Senior Member
i wonder how much more difficult it is to remove snow around a roundabout comapred to a conventional intersection? And whether the tight turns in roundabouts may cause difficulties in the winter months with snow and ice.
Mapleson
Active Member
It all depends on how well the roundabout is designed. They used to get snow in the south of England in the 1950s and they still get snow and ice in Scotland, so all the empirical design tweaks are available, but Canada prefers the analytical approach. Waterloo Region is getting better at it (compare Erbsville Roundabout and the Lancaster/Bridge Roundabout), but they had a fair number of incidents with trucks and ice at the beginning of the decade.
drum118
Superstar
Roundabout - Duke of York Boulevard and Square One Drive (Ward 4)
Corporate Report dated May 25, 2011 from the Commissioner of Transportation and
Works regarding a temporary road closure of Duke of York Boulevard between Rathburn
Road West and Prince of Wales Drive and an exemption from the Noise Control By-law
to construct the roundabout at the intersection of Duke of York Boulevard and Square
One Drive.
RECOMMENDATION
1. That a by-law be enacted to implement a temporary road closure of Duke of York
Boulevard between Rathburn Road West and Prince of Wales Drive commencing
Monday, July 25,2011 and ending on Monday, August 22,2011.
Corporate Report dated May 25, 2011 from the Commissioner of Transportation and
Works regarding a temporary road closure of Duke of York Boulevard between Rathburn
Road West and Prince of Wales Drive and an exemption from the Noise Control By-law
to construct the roundabout at the intersection of Duke of York Boulevard and Square
One Drive.
RECOMMENDATION
1. That a by-law be enacted to implement a temporary road closure of Duke of York
Boulevard between Rathburn Road West and Prince of Wales Drive commencing
Monday, July 25,2011 and ending on Monday, August 22,2011.
Dan416
Senior Member
That's a quick construction project (4 weeks).
howl
Active Member
The City of London (England) has removed dozens of urban roundabouts in its core over the last ten years in order to make the core more pedestrian-friendly. Piccadilly Circus is no longer a circus, neither is Cambridge Circus. Oxford Circus is now a signalized cross intersection with a pedestrian scramble phase. Elephant and Castle roundabout was taken out last year.
Roundabouts have their place – London is still putting in roundabouts in many suburban locations - but in London they recognize that they are not appropriate for high-pedestrian traffic areas. If the City of Mississauga wants to encourage pedestrian activity along Duke of York I don’t they should be putting roundabouts along it.
Mapleson
Active Member
I think there is a different is scale between Oxford Circus and Square One. There are 38,000 pph (Oxford Circus), while Rathburn/Duke of York is predicted to have 3542 vph in 2031. Unless you think thousands of people will start walking to Square One, this isn't the place for a pedestrian scrable.