I have recommended many roundabouts. They're a fantastic way to move traffic and actually take less space than an interchange or regular intersection that handles the same volume of traffic with the same amount of throughput. They're also safer than other methods.
(Some areas call them 'rotaries'.)
One caveat is that they screw with the traffic flow for a varied length of time, eventually. People come to grips with it, and the full benefits are seen. It takes time to acclimate. That's generally only a concern for local traffic - because those unfamiliar with it will never be familiar with that specific roundabout but will hopefully at least have experience with them and know how to navigate them safely.
We have fewer roundabouts here in the US, compared to other developed countries. That's true even with our vast network of roads. So, we take a while to figure it out. If we had a roundabout like the one in the video above, we'd be shooting each other.
I actually got permission to study a couple of roundabouts in the UK, but that's a different topic.
For the roundabout in the above video, they should have probably installed clear signage that explains the expected behavior. They should probably have considered making the change known ahead of time. This is the sort of thing that the public needs to know about. They also could have made that weird diamond shape taller. People would still be confused, but they wouldn't be driving over the top of it.
It's probably a bit more chaotic at night. I hope they have proper lighting for that.
And, for the record, I've never recommended a diamond-shaped roundabout. I've had clients who refused to use roundabouts because they're 'too complicated'. I'm not sure what they'd say if I'd proposed this monstrosity.
I wonder if it was designed by a real traffic engineer or just someone who doesn't understand traffic. I'm almost 100% certain that nobody actually modeled this ahead of time. I can tell you that with complete confidence. If they did, I hope they made other recommendations and it was the municipality that didn't listen to them.
www.theguardian.com
