[prirun]

They put two roundabouts in here on a state highway. I've never talked to anyone who had good things to say about them.

The main problems IMO are:

- you can just go around again if you aren't sure which exit you need; you are forced into taking an exit, right or wrong

- the radius is too small so there is not much time to make a complex decision, especially if you aren't already familiar with the exits

- it's hard to monitor traffic entering the roundabout to make sure I don't get hit by someone having a harder time navigating this than me, while at the same time trying to figure out what the crazy sign diagrams mean.

- there's no confirmation when you do take an exit that you've taken the right one. Might not be a road sign for 10-15 seconds, which is a long time when you're not sure where you're going.

- they're even worse at night because there's not enough lighting. Not too bad for the exits toward civilization, but pretty confusing for the more rustic ones.

I think the idea is okay, but at least for the ones they put in here, the execution is not so hot.

[Symbiote]

[1] is a typical sign in Britain. The green sign (hopefully in my link) shows the main destinations, e.g. Warwick, since this is a long distance road. The white sign 200m further along the road shows more local destinations.

There are then large signs at every exit on the roundabout.

Sometimes (not here) the approach lanes have giant letters/numbers painted in each lane, even if it's crushed so Warwick is written "Wa'ck" or something.

Nothing prevents you going around a second time if you need to. Your satnav will have said something like "In 500m, at the roundabout, take the second exit to Warwick" and then "Take the second exit to Warwick".

On this road (which is typical) there's the confirmation-of-route sign very soon after exiting the roundabout towards Warwick, or (third exit) to the village.

> you can just go around again if you aren't sure which exit you need; you are forced into taking an exit, right or wrong

...doesn't make sense?

> the radius is too small so there is not much time to make a complex decision, especially if you aren't already familiar with the exits

Ideally, you should know what exit you need from the signs you saw approaching the roundabout. If not, slow down and go around again.

> it's hard to monitor traffic entering the roundabout to make sure I don't get hit by someone having a harder time navigating this than me, while at the same time trying to figure out what the crazy sign diagrams mean.

This is why the signs were 100-200m before the roundabout. It sounds like you are approaching the roundabout too fast.

[1] https://www.google.com/maps/@52.1980889,-1.6002025,3a,75y,23...

[foxyv]

> It sounds like you are approaching the roundabout too fast.

This is a common problem with USA roundabouts. People think of them like a freeway on-ramp and traffic engineers do nothing to calm the traffic entering. So people go through them as fast as possible. Slowing down in a roundabout tends to piss off a lot of folks who think they should be doing highway speeds.

[cinntaile]

> you can just go around again if you aren't sure which exit you need; you are forced into taking an exit, right or wrong

> ...doesn't make sense?

It's supposed to be "you can't just...", it also means your solution of slowing down and going around again doesn't work.

[xamolxix]

> It's supposed to be "you can't just..."

Honest question, why can't you? Is it disallowed by law?

[cinntaile]

I don't know anything about this field so I can't answer that unfortunately. If I were to take a guess, I'd guess it's for (real or imagined) safety reasons? Roundabouts where you can't go around again aren't that common here though.

[foxyv]

You will see a lot of "Shepard's Hook" roundabouts in the USA to prevent people from going around again. I personally don't know why.

[tokamak-teapot]

In the UK there are signs at each exit that do their best to ensure you're clear that you're about to take the right one.

When we're not sure that we're about to come off at the right exit, we just go around again. I find myself doing this in unfamiliar places occasionally.

Not sure what your first point is saying, but the fact you can just go around again until you're sure you're going the right way is a great feature, IME.

I think the reason that introducing roundabouts somewhere where people aren't used to dealing with them all the time is ... well, just that. There needs to be enough of them for people to be comfortable with the right way to approach them - and not just them, but others using them, before they work as intended.

In summary: Roundabouts are a really good way of managing a junction, but - like most road features - they need to get to a point of being familiar to most road users before they're as effective as they can be.

[mc32]

I think the problems above are mostly for new users. Those unfamiliar with their way. But... lots of this is solved via navigation apps and even proper signage.

On there other hand they have a maximum throughput and that can only be alleviated by an interchange --even modest ones.

[derbOac]

My experience with roundabouts is they work wonderfully in some places, and horribly in others. I feel like at least where I am, because they work so perfectly and elegantly in certain situations, better than other solutions, they then get overapplied, in situations where they are horrible.

It's a variant of the "when you only have a hammer" analogy: when you first learn how great a hammer can be, everything looks like a nail.

[ramblerman]

how is 1 negative? And how is 2 not solved by 1.

[ZeroGravitas]

I think there's a missing negative from point 1, it sounds like they can't just go round again which is the default of most things I'd describe as roundabouts.

At least I think so, they might be complaining that you aren't forced to take an exit.