SIGNING AND PAVEMENT-MARKING STRATEGIES FOR MULTI-LANE ROUNDABOUTS: AN INFORMAL INVESTIGATION

Multi-lane roundabouts present motorists with a complex set of decisions. Unlike single-lane roundabouts, for which the only rule on entry is "yield to the driver on your left, then circulate to your right," multi-lane roundabouts also require decisions about lane positioning--and these decisions are necessary at multiple points: entering, circulating and exiting. Many American motorists are not educated on the proper way to negotiate a multi-lane roundabout, and don't always know which lane is correct for making a given movement. As roundabouts have become more common in the United States over the past several years, resolving driver confusion has become an important task for the designer. An important question to answer, therefore, is: What design features can maximize clarity for motorists? Signing and pavement marking are perhaps the two most important tools designers can use to simplify driver understanding of multi-lane roundabouts. Jurisdictions across America and abroad have employed a variety of philosophies and approaches in signing and marking multi-lane roundabouts, ranging from minimal to elaborate treatments. This variation in practice, coupled with the relative lack of published guidance, provides evidence that the industry remains in an "experimental" phase and further standardization may be helpful. This paper examines and categorizes many of these signing and marking strategies. Arguments for and against the underlying design philosophies are presented, and general conclusions are drawn regarding the effectiveness of the various approaches. The paper also recommends future research, with an eye toward establishing reasonable and intuitive uniformity in signing and pavement-marking practice.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • The symposium proceedings are available on CD-ROM.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Kinzel, C S
• Conference:
  • 2nd Urban Street Symposium: Uptown, Downtown, or Small Town: Designing Urban Streets That Work
  • Location: Anaheim, California , United States
  • Date: 2003-7-28 to 2003-7-30
• Publication Date: 2003-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 17p
• Monograph Title: 2ND URBAN STREET SYMPOSIUM: UPTOWN, DOWNTOWN, OR SMALL TOWN: DESIGNING URBAN STREETS THAT WORK, JULY 28-30, 2003, ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Multilane highways; Road markings; Roundabouts; Standardization; State of the practice; Traffic signs
• Uncontrolled Terms: Lane positioning
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00989168
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 8 2005 12:00AM