Replace traffic lights with roundabouts

JackFrosty

In my opinion roundabouts work better than traffic lights to keep traffic flowing and ease congestion.
They are better for the environment also.
Everywhere i drive i see traffic lights that could easily be replaced by roundabouts.
I bet where ever you are there is a set of lights that could be changed and so make every ones driving less stressful
Ok i know its not possible to do it every where, In clonmel 1 place it would work is the lights at upper irish town and the convent bridge road junction.
If you know a junction where it would work list it.

jimmycrackcorm

Only works when combined with yellow boxes.

L1011

In low land availability situations, lights work infinitely better than 'button' roundabouts. To add a proper sized roundabout in many situations would require serious destruction of adjacent buildings.

seanybiker

i agree with ya to a certain extent. I live in waterford and the majority of traffic lights not in town themselves are pointless. The top of my street there is traffic lights. They where put there about 5 years ago. They are the worse things ever.
I pull up on bike. We say hmm midnight. No cars coming but i still have to wait for green light. Truth be told nobody waits for them at that time of night. Even in the day time they are more a traffic jam than anything.
Dont know what it like where you from.

mike65

Building a roundabout costs more and often requires the purchase of land and the re-allignment of roads, seany mentions Waterford, where on the Cork road (N25) there is a light controlled double junction. Before the outer ring road opened they were a true nightmare, the annoying thing is that there was loads of land to re-allign the Ballybag Drive road to meet the N25 opposite the Claremount road, then a large roundabout could have been put in.

Thoie

One flaw in the plan is that roundabouts don't allow for pedestrians. The other problem that I see in Dublin regularly is that people manage to "gridlock" roundabouts through sheer stupidity entering them at inappropriate times. Then you also have the polite people who stop on a roundabout to let people out from side roads.

There are definitely some places that might benefit from a roundabout, but it's not a panacea.

Edit: Oops, sorry, reread OP and realise that you weren't suggesting replacing all lights with roundabouts.

mike65

pedestrians???!

markpb

The other reason traffic authorities don't like roundabouts is because the can be very unfair when one arm is very heavy, it can be hard for another arm to break in. it can be exacerbated when the driver trying ti enter isn't very confident.

Thoie

mike65 wrote: »

pedestrians???!

Them yokes with legs that bleed all over your windscreen and dent your bonnet, you know the ones...

unkel

JackFrosty wrote: »

In my opinion roundabouts work better than traffic lights to keep traffic flowing and ease congestion.

Agree in most situations. Now let's find and shoot that idiot who is responsible for replacing dozens of perfectly well working roundabouts in south-Lucan with traffic lights :mad:

Fighting Irish

This country is too worried about pedestrians to do anything like that.

OMG someone ran out in front of a car, ok we need to put in 35 ramps and 16 green man crossings.

Its a ****ing joke.

AugustusMaximus

Thoie wrote: »

One flaw in the plan is that roundabouts don't allow for pedestrians. The other problem that I see in Dublin regularly is that people manage to "gridlock" roundabouts through sheer stupidity entering them at inappropriate times. Then you also have the polite people who stop on a roundabout to let people out from side roads.

There are definitely some places that might benefit from a roundabout, but it's not a panacea.

Edit: Oops, sorry, reread OP and realise that you weren't suggesting replacing all lights with roundabouts.

The best solution is signalised roundabouts. They give you a considerably higher capacity than either a normal roundabout or a signalised junction.

robbie99

unkel wrote: »

Agree in most situations. Now let's find and shoot that idiot who is responsible for replacing dozens of perfectly well working roundabouts in south-Lucan with traffic lights :mad:

+1.

Berty

Im afraid the best solution is a good old recession. People will get their cars repo'd and others with cars will lose their jobs and have no work to go to. Less people on the road = result. No more big motorways needed at all.

Mailman

unkel wrote: »

Agree in most situations. Now let's find and shoot that idiot who is responsible for replacing dozens of perfectly well working roundabouts in south-Lucan with traffic lights :mad:

Agree. Adds at least 5 minutes to my journey time each way, each and every workday

unkel

Mailman wrote: »

Adds at least 5 minutes to my journey time each way, each and every workday

So about an hour per week wasted

And that's probably a conservative enough guess. Even at off-peak a trip from Griffeen Avenue to Woodies (less than 2 miles) used to be 5 mins max. Now it is 10mins min, but it can easily take 30mins sometimes

ninty9er

Roundabouts are not the answer, neither are lights. freeflow flyovers and underpasses are the REAL solution, but that would require even more land and demolition works, and cost multiples of the already more expensive roundabout option.

That was the real solution to what has become "Ballysimon Junction" on the Limerick-Tipp road.....5 sets of lights:eek::eek::eek::mad:

JackFrosty

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

The best solution is signalised roundabouts. They give you a considerably higher capacity than either a normal roundabout or a signalised junction.

I agree

johnnyrotten

You'd have to re-educate motorists on how to use them and how to signal on them too