Wednesday, January 30, 2008

TRAFFIC CIRCLES from SPACE look like crop circles

Some comments were made on my other posting about traffic circles as part of the WISDOT impending improvement of WI RT 165.

I have heard good and bad about traffic circles, and will agree that if things are going smoothly then great, but if things go badly the they really go badly.

I have been stuck in major traffic tie-ups (in states like New Jersey) do to the occasional fender bender (and these do happen a lot since parallel vehicles are both following the same circular path at the same time -- easy to deviate).

On the bright side, they don't have traffic lights (no need for unnecessary stopping and waiting, AND no energy demands for the lighting itself).

New (no stopping) designs are supposedly better than old stop and proceed configurations. Remains to be seen. Any comments??

3 comments:

Village People said...

Like what we have now works so well? I say give it a try.

PleasantPrairieWI said...

Dear Village People,
I like innovation too, and think of all the electric bills saved. I just continue to wonder how much traffic becomes TOO much for these circles. Remember the scene in National Lampoons European Vacation where the Griswolds wind up going around and around because the traffic prevents them for safely exiting? Maybe we could put a monument to some village administrator in the middle of the circle? I know this sounds sarcastic, but if someone doesn't say it specifically sarcastically then it could happen. Imagine a fieldhouse in a recreation complex in Kenosha being named after a current city employee?

RAG said...

I've seen roundabouts out east that are nightmares. I'm wary of them.