THE DESIGN OF ROUNDABOUTS

Control of traffic at a road junction by roundabout or gyratory movement, creates problems in design that are unique. The history of research on roundabouts, shows that "what is going on" is not obvious. Earlier theories and studies were influenced by the existing urban road layouts. Changes in vehicles have also had an impact. Over many years there have been different ideas about the ideal form of roundabout, with little consensus on the crucial effect of rules for negotiating the junction. Important experiments on traffic roundabouts have been carried out in the UK, during a period of some 25 years, when the verdict elsewhere on a roundabout as an efficient form of junction, was unfavourable. These studies sought, the principles of a roundabout layout which maximise traffic capacity and safety, also to develop practical design methods for the highway engineer. The accumulated results have been implemented, and refined in the UK with considerable success. This review refers to that research, tracing in considerable detail, the evolvement of roundabout design in the UK up to 1993. It also looks at the research and contemporary design practice in other countries. It contains extract from UK roundabout Design Guidelines, but does not claim to be a "designer's manual". (A)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0115517413
• Corporate Authors:

  Her Majesty Stationary Office

  49 High Holborn
  London WC1V 6HB,   England 
• Authors:
  • Brown, M
• Publication Date: 1995

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 270 p.
• Serial:
  • TRL STATE OF THE ART REVIEW
  • Publisher: Her Majesty Stationary Office

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus priority; Crash rates; Cyclists; Decision making; Design; Highway capacity; Layout; Pedestrians; Road markings; Roundabouts; Standards; Traffic delays; Traffic flow; Traffic islands; Traffic signal preemption; Traffic signals; Vehicle spacing
• ITRD Terms: 1612: Accident rate; 643: Capacity (road, footway); 562: Carriageway marking; 1742: Cyclist; 2248: Decision process; 9010: Delay; 9011: Design (overall design); 2885: Layout; 1733: Pedestrian; 648: Priority (traffic); 438: Roundabout; 187: Specification (standard); 671: Traffic flow; 471: Traffic island; 565: Traffic signal; 694: Vehicle spacing
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00720862
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-11-551741-3
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: May 24 1996 12:00AM