Traffic Circle

[Paugus Bay Resident]

I'll save judgment until the asphalt is brought up to the "rumble strip" level. I went through there for my second time a few hours ago and it is tight.

[OFD232]

Ah yes the Union Leader traffic "roundabout article" It is right up there with The check is in the Mail, Hi I'm from the Federal government and I'm here to help, and Don't worry I won't Whooops cant use that one

[Rattlesnake Guy]

I have had the experince of doing a couple thousand round abouts in England. When they are done correctly and the drivers entering yield to those that are already rounding about, they are sooooo much better than a traffic light. On my return home I really longed for them on my first 15 red lights in a row experience. They save energy as well.

I will say that when the trafic gets past a certain level they don't work as well. Ironicly this results in in trafic lights being installed on the round abouts. The ones I saw with lights were big circles where two major roads intersect. The lights would only be on during rush hour to stop the gridlock when one side could not get a turn.

If they are designed correctly and we learn to drive them safely, they are a lot more efficent. I love the two in Nashua.

I fear the NH engineers are making them small to force us to yield on entry. This is a big mistake. If there are no cars comming, you should be able to zip throgh quickly.

Not sure if we can learn the intricate blinker rules of a 3 lane, 6 road circle here in the states but we should be able to handle the one lane version.

[chmeeee]

Originally Posted by OFD232

Ah yes the Union Leader traffic "roundabout article" It is right up there with The check is in the Mail, Hi I'm from the Federal government and I'm here to help, and Don't worry I won't Whooops cant use that one

Do you want to back that up with something? Those are all fairly standard roundabout statistics, backed by federal research. I am a traffic engineer, and I can tell you that when properly designed and implemented in a place with appropriate volumes, they work very well. I haven't driven through the Meredith one yet, I will next weekend though, so I cannot comment on the design of that one.

My experience as it comes to working with DOTs is that while upper level decision making can be (and frequently is) extremely poor, design work in the modern era is almost always very good.

[redc5]

Originally Posted by chmeeee

Do you want to back that up with something? Those are all fairly standard roundabout statistics, backed by federal research. I am a traffic engineer, and I can tell you that when properly designed and implemented in a place with appropriate volumes, they work very well. I haven't driven through the Meredith one yet, I will next weekend though, so I cannot comment on the design of that one.

My experience as it comes to working with DOTs is that while upper level decision making can be (and frequently is) extremely poor, design work in the modern era is almost always very good.

I dont think he's slamming the article, I think he's slamming the newspaper

[chmeeee]

Originally Posted by redc5

I dont think he's slamming the article, I think he's slamming the newspaper

You mean that bastion of journalistic integrity?

[DoTheMath]

If it is modeled after the ones in Europe then... lets drive through it backwards - a-la London - and see if that works!? Maybe that is what we are all missing!?!?

"Can't get left... hey look, Big Ben, Parliment - Kids"!
Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold in European Vacation

[Weirs guy]

Lets all make a deal. When the first bus full of tourists gets stuck in the thing post pictures!

...and the wheels on the bus get cut by the curb, cut by the curb, cut by the curb...

[fatlazyless]

Have driven through the Meredith round-about maybe six times, and the traffic flows right well, indeedy-do! Not only is it safer, but it speeds up the flow. I had nothing better to do so round-about I went, twelve times!

Just remember that the traffic already in the round-about has the right-of-way.

A round-about just may be the solution for the Pleasant St- Route 25 intersection near the movie theatre.

[krm]

What was the problem with old intersection? Seemed like it was only a problem on bike week? I can think of alot worst intersections that DOT could have fixed.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

A round-about just may be the solution for the Pleasant St- Route 25 intersection near the movie theatre.

Only if they design it so that it is practical.... the one up at 106 as others have stated was poorly designed and isn't going to work. They tried to cram a circle in. They should have taken more land and installed it properly.

[hockeypuck]

Just had a round-about put in here in southern CT, looks exactly like the one in NH. All the same complaints about waste of money and it creating more accidents, but such has not been the case. Yes, there has been a learning curve on the part of drivers, but it really works pretty well now. Traffic moves, slowly thru the circle, but no big deal.
Maybe one should be considered for suicide corner on the Waldo Pepper's side of the Weir's bridge. Most people don't have a clue as to who has the right of way there. Yes, there are signs there, but for some reason they don't seem to be logical. Can't trust drivers esp .first timers to follow them.

[mets3007]

The Weirs bridge is chaos bridge everyone for themself no rules you go when you want to and stop when you want to instead of traffic from Weirs yeilding letting the cars out from Weirs Blvd and traffic on 11B stopping to let them out, its not rocket science. ( end of mini rant)

[hilltopper]

The roundabout has been explained as a way to calm traffic which otherwise backs up at traffic lights. However, you go a few hundered yards toward Meredith on Rt. 3 and you hit a traffic light at the 104 intersection. Does that seem strange to anyone? It may help the traffic at the 106 intersection but won't it just back up again a few hundred yards down the road at the 104 intersection?

[chmeeee]

Its still better than having two signals that close together though.

Also, I agree that the Weirs bridge would be the perfect place for a roundabout. Queues from a signal would back up over the bridge and past Lakeside Ave and Channel lane, and the existing mess is a death trap. I feel like I have to avoid an accident every other time I go through there.

[Weirs guy]

Originally Posted by chmeeee

Also, I agree that the Weirs bridge would be the perfect place for a roundabout. Queues from a signal would back up over the bridge and past Lakeside Ave and Channel lane, and the existing mess is a death trap. I feel like I have to avoid an accident every other time I go through there.

Dear god, please NO!!!!

I'm surprised FLL hasn't jumped on this yet, but there was an article in the Laconia Sun a week or so ago addressing the city's request to the state to fix "dysfunction junction" before they worry about fixing the rest of Rt. 3 from dysfunction junction to the new circle of death. My wife and I often joke about making up a big green "GO" sign and hanging it on the Waldo Peppers side of dysfunction junction. I hope we wait and see how the circle of death works out before we make a new one that I have to deal with daily. I still say a lot of cut tires are in Meredith's future, hopefully I'm wrong.

[OFD232]

Originally Posted by chmeeee

Do you want to back that up with something? Those are all fairly standard roundabout statistics, backed by federal research. I am a traffic engineer, and I can tell you that when properly designed and implemented in a place with appropriate volumes, they work very well. I haven't driven through the Meredith one yet, I will next weekend though, so I cannot comment on the design of that one.

My experience as it comes to working with DOTs is that while upper level decision making can be (and frequently is) extremely poor, design work in the modern era is almost always very good.

Well My comment was more about the newspaper, it is a NH version of the Boston Herald. It was often said that if WWIII broke out between the US and Russia , the NY times headline would have been US-Soviet Conflict escalates, The Boston Globe would be US-Russia dispute ignites, Its Bush's Fault and the Herald would have been BOOM. But since you bring it up after being in a line of work where stats are used as a measure of performance it has been my experience that you can use the same stats to prove or disprove anything you want, IE There are statistics and then there are dammed lies. Federal research or for that matter any research is done to sometimes shall we say support certain goals or positions. I will have to agree with you though on upper level decision making especially in agencies where leadership has a political tinge to it is "unique" at times. Truthfully when all is said and done drivers will either adapt to it or go another way causing the traffic to be displaced on some other location. Last of all unless they put one somewhere on the lake itself I will just use the Boston Method of dealing with it Close my eyes and accelerate.

[chmeeee]

Weirs Guy, I've never heard of a roundabout causing cut tires. I think once they lay down the top course of pavement, you'll see it won't be an issue. Then again, maybe it will be a big SNAFU, we'll see.

OFD, I haven't really read the Union Leader before, so I appreciate the comparison to the Herald (shudder). Either way though, the research supporting reduced fatalities is real, I've seen local research on individual intersections in various cities across the US with similar results. It makes sense, given that the intersection configuration eliminates the possibility of the dangerous high-speed right angle crashes. Any crashes are likely to either be rear-end or low angle, i.e. sideswipe crashes, where injuries are less likely.

[SAMIAM]

You were close ....the NY Times headline would be"U.S.- Soviet Conflict Escalates....Women and Minorities Hardest Hit"

[Weirs guy]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

You were close ....the NY Times headline would be"U.S.- Soviet Conflict Escalates....Women and Minorities Hardest Hit"

Don't forget "A-Rod blamed for incident".

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by OFD232

{snip} Last of all unless they put one somewhere on the lake itself I will just use the Boston Method of dealing with it Close my eyes and accelerate.

Agreed ! Best speed to date with the Mini was 31.4159 mph. I'm gonna leave "Mee" home next time and bet I can up it by a few mph at least !

[Rattlesnake Guy]

When our family goes through the circle I anounce my love for everyone and we all screem as we go through what we call the circle of death. Good family times. So far, nothing ever happens.

[Mee-n-Mac]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Guy

When our family goes through the circle I anounce my love for everyone and we all screem as we go through what we call the circle of death. Good family times. So far, nothing ever happens.

My guess is that death awaits at 45.000000001 mph.



During the day of course .....

[hilltopper]

My wife went through the circle on Friday early afternoon and saw what appeared to be a motorcycle accident. Anyone hear anything about this? Not sure the accident was desing-related but I'm curious.