Mega Roundabout outside UK?

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Peter Freeman
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

Post by Peter Freeman »

^ Spiral lane marking. I believe this is, theoretically, the most rational layout on a multi-lane roundabout. As long as you know the name/number of your desired exit, you simply select the correct entry lane and the rest follows automatically.

Unfortunately, in practise, you still encounter lane-changers part way around. This might be due to them not knowing their destination's name/number, or unfamiliar drivers not realising that it is spirally marked. The fact that there are two modes of lane marking (minority spiral versus majority concentric) causes the confusion and problems.
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Chris5156
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

Post by Chris5156 »

You also get - distressingly often - attempts at spiral marking that don’t work because whoever painted them thought they had a clearer idea of how to do it than they really did. The worst of them start you off in a marked lane that changes it’s destination halfway round, so you have to change lanes anyway, or where the markings vanish around each entry and exit point, reappearing totally misaligned with the flow of traffic afterwards.
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Bryn666
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

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Chris5156 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 10:58 You also get - distressingly often - attempts at spiral marking that don’t work because whoever painted them thought they had a clearer idea of how to do it than they really did. The worst of them start you off in a marked lane that changes it’s destination halfway round, so you have to change lanes anyway, or where the markings vanish around each entry and exit point, reappearing totally misaligned with the flow of traffic afterwards.
These are the absolute worst, and far too common.

White City Circle in Salford/Trafford must be one of the worst for this, as it actively encourages you to cut up two other lanes of traffic at one point. As it straddles the border no one wants to take ownership.
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Chris5156
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

Post by Chris5156 »

Bryn666 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 11:42
Chris5156 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 10:58 You also get - distressingly often - attempts at spiral marking that don’t work because whoever painted them thought they had a clearer idea of how to do it than they really did. The worst of them start you off in a marked lane that changes it’s destination halfway round, so you have to change lanes anyway, or where the markings vanish around each entry and exit point, reappearing totally misaligned with the flow of traffic afterwards.
These are the absolute worst, and far too common.

White City Circle in Salford/Trafford must be one of the worst for this, as it actively encourages you to cut up two other lanes of traffic at one point. As it straddles the border no one wants to take ownership.
Now long vanished, thankfully, but the roundabout below the A1 at the Selby Fork interchange (A1/A63) was a horror show. It had two lanes marked around it, but the destinations painted on the road kept moving left a lane as you went round.
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Bryn666
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

Post by Bryn666 »

Chris5156 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 15:26
Bryn666 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 11:42
Chris5156 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 10:58 You also get - distressingly often - attempts at spiral marking that don’t work because whoever painted them thought they had a clearer idea of how to do it than they really did. The worst of them start you off in a marked lane that changes it’s destination halfway round, so you have to change lanes anyway, or where the markings vanish around each entry and exit point, reappearing totally misaligned with the flow of traffic afterwards.
These are the absolute worst, and far too common.

White City Circle in Salford/Trafford must be one of the worst for this, as it actively encourages you to cut up two other lanes of traffic at one point. As it straddles the border no one wants to take ownership.
Now long vanished, thankfully, but the roundabout below the A1 at the Selby Fork interchange (A1/A63) was a horror show. It had two lanes marked around it, but the destinations painted on the road kept moving left a lane as you went round.
The other design faux pas is trying to fit spiral layouts onto tiny circulatory carriageways, such as those on the new Congleton Bypass.
Bryn
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c2R
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Re: Mega Roundabout outside UK?

Post by c2R »

Owain wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 15:58
A303Chris wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 14:15
Owain wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 06:42
And then there's this monster!
That is an absolute beauty. I suppose it is just as well it is quiet otherwise people could be stuck on there for hours.
I got lost on it once, in the middle of the night. The really funny thing was a local followed me off at the wrong exit - even though I had an obviously foreign car - and we both had to U-turn to get back to the correct route!
It reminds me a bit of an enormous Owler Bar!
Is there a road improvement project going on near you? Help us to document it on the SABRE Wiki - help is available in the Digest forum.
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From the SABRE Wiki: Owler Bar :

Owler Bar is an elongated roundabout/longabout in Derbyshire, near Chesterfield.

It appears that there was an "Owler Bar Turnpike Trust" so presumably the bar is in reference to it being a turnpike gate (the Toll House Cottage next to the Peacock Inn being another clue).

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