When our state began implementing traffic circles (or roundabouts if you prefer) I didn’t see the point. Part of the problem was that the first traffic circles we encountered with any regularity were in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I’m talking intersections where if two vehicles reach the intersection at the same time at any point in the day, it’s a traffic jam. Once we moved to The Cabin and we began navigating the traffic circle that’s a little over a mile from our house – we got it. The traffic circle is so much better than the four-way stop it replaced. Around six months ago, a second traffic circle opened about a half mile from the first one.
There are basically two roads to take when leaving our house. One has the two traffic circles discussed above. Now, a new traffic circle is being installed (implemented? constructed?) on the other road, about a mile from our house. I’m excited about this one. I navigated this intersection frequently; especially on days I worked. Through traffic on the road doesn’t stop so certain times of day, the traffic entering from the side roads backs up, especially when someone needs to turn left. The pavement in one area was really in need of repair as well. With other traffic circles in the area, the roads were kept open during construction. This time, the roadway is closed and the contractor has thirty-five days to complete the project; so, it should be completed around the Forth of July.
Now, when I say the roads leading to the traffic-circle-in-process are closed, there is no doubt that the roads are. closed. There are big signs barricading the roads and plenty of bright orange detour signs. However, this apparently isn’t enough to stop some people – including my husband.🙄 Kenn came home one day about a week after the closure and casually mentioned that he had driven down to check on the progress of the project. Upon questioning, yes, he had driven around the barricades. No, he didn’t think it was a big deal. I begged to differ, but, whatever dude. Then, a little over a week ago, Kenn came home from his Saturday morning errands and confessed that he, along with the drivers of two or three other vehicles, had driven around the barricades. However, this time, the police were waiting on them. So, my dear hubby came home with a ticket and a court date. I told him he may as well not try to talk his way out of it because he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Kenn agreed and also promised that he will not be violating the barricades again. I also explained to him the definition of FAFO – the non-PC version of “play stupid games and win stupid prizes.”
So, what do you call these: traffic circles or roundabouts? Or, maybe something completely different? (One of my former coworkers calls them “roundy-rounds.”)
Linda Lou's Life 
We call them traffic circles. I’m smiling about your husband’s ticket and a court date. He knew better!
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He did! 🤦♀️
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In New England, we called them rotaries. They don’t really exist in Los Angeles–all the roads are laid out like grids–so I’ve no idea what the local slang is, despite being here for decades. And seriously, what on earth was Kenn thinking?!
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“Rotaries” is a new one for me.
And, right? Sometimes, I just don’t understand Kenn’s thought processes.
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They’re roundabouts here and I hate them. I’d go with “forced upon us” instead of implemented or constructed, but that’s just me. Tara inexplicably loves them.
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Based on the comments on the FB post where the city announced the current road closure, a lot of people agree with you on the “forced upon us” aspect.
The DOT is planning to replace the current interstate exchange in town with a traffic circle. I’m dreading this. It’s going to have to be big enough to handle heavy traffic and semis.
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That sounds downright dangerous!
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It does. I tend to avoid that interchange as it is; I’ll avoid it even more whenever the traffic circle is constructed.
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Roundabouts – but I first learned about them while studying abroad in England. I think my friends here in NV call them traffic circles.
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There are some I love and some I hate! They are not all created equal.
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True! I understand how the multi-lane traffic circles work, but we don’t have any around here. I suspect I would like those a little less.
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Yes, that is my experience!
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They are called roundabouts here and I hated them at first. Now that I see how much they help with accident prevention I like them. People still don’t understand them. A few days ago a lady stopped and waited for cars coming 1/2 mile down the road, from the roundabout! I waited patiently but then she kept doing it. I finally hit the horn and she went.
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Oh and I forgot to say I would have been like your hubby and been one of those cars that drove through. Lol
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75 years ago in Texas, it was called a traffic circle, and people hated them. I learned to drive in, and deeply appreciate, roundabouts in South Africa, and quickly learned it was the most efficient method of routing traffic, assuming the driver had even a rudimentary knowledge of traffic laws. I had never driven right hand drive on the opposite side of the road from the US, and I was a seasoned 50+ when I experienced it for the first time. It was not rocket science, but one did need the ability of observation and obedience to the law. Several years ago, Oxford, MS put in its first roundabout, and folks still seem not to grasp the ability to discern when one can change lanes (when there are broken dash lines, but not a solid line, just like on the regular highway) and think you can weave back and forth willy nilly across either lane to exit from the inter lane by driving right in front of a car already in the outer lane. I love the roundabouts, which indeed keep traffic moving smoothly in spite of sometimes the ignorant (did not bother to learn in site of the signs on the roadway as well as all around the circles and prior to entry) or “ignore it” drivers who also routinely ignore other traffic laws. There is a sufficient database of many years of the safety and preference for a roundabout as opposed to a 4 way stop–which frankly, few here seem able to figure out either. It is like “I stopped so now I can go” no matter who was at the stop sign first, or the order in which is entitled to legally proceed.
This is my first soap box in quite some while, so cut me some slack for being so judgmental.
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LOL. This is a safe space to vent.
We don’t have any of the multi-lane traffic circles here. I shudder to think what it will be like when we do. My biggest complaint are the people – usually driving a big pickup truck and towing some sort of trailer – who don’t seem to think the rules apply to them. They usually don’t slow down, much less yield, and just pull into the circle, assuming no one will hit them.🤦♀️
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They are putting them in all over town now, and while the construction was inconvenient for a period, it is really helping with traffic flow. In several heavily traveled highways, they now have places with double circles–one on each side of the major highway exits and entrances, and it has made a major difference in not backing up traffic…once folks figure out if you want to exit, stay in the right lane, and if you want to turn, stay in the left! I just keep my eyes open and pay attention.
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We call them roundabouts here in our state and thankfully, despite people who praise them up for relieving traffic congestion, I am happy there are none in my area. They are more in larger counties and cities. We have so much ongoing construction here in Southeast Michigan right now, it seems no matter where you go, you will find a bottleneck. One of the large bottlenecks, which I am able to avoid, is that they are re-routing railroad tracks where trains routinely disrupt traffic and cause snarls, which is bad enough for regular commuters, but there have been some issues as to EMT drivers with passengers in dire straits who cannot be pushed to the front of the queue and some of these trains are a hundred cars or longer. People joke that in Michigan our state flower is “Orange Barrelius” and that was our Governor who coined the expression after running for Governor with a slogan of “elect me and I’ll fix the d— roads!”
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Oh, wow. I can’t even imagine what a nightmare rerouting railroad tracks would be. Yikes.
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Yes, at one time they thought of doing the train tracks on a bridge overhead but the logistics don’t seem practical, however, I have heard that idea is not off the table yet.
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Roundabouts is what we say..
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