Roundabout Dropped Curb/ Parking Bay?

[toxictots]

I often see roundabouts with dropped curbs and little concrete squares set into the grass to allow vehicular access.

What is the purpose of this?

I assumed it was for access to manhole covers, but about 40% of roundabouts I see have this feature?


Follow link for example image- https://ibb.co/g7SMLsh

[Chris5156]

It’s for maintenance vehicles to park up. If your arriving in a van to cut the grass or repair a sign, it’s better to have a safe place to park your van off the road than have to park in the roadway and carry heavy equipment through running traffic.

If you see one at a signalised junction they’re usually placed next to the cabinet containing the controller, for obvious reasons.

In some cases - I don’t think your example is one but it may be - a cut through that goes right through the island and out the other side is for long vehicles to cross, if they wouldn’t make it around the outside. They tend to appear on the line of approved routes for long loads.

[nowster]

If you see one by the side of a road, partially grassed over (Grasscrete™ or equivalent), it may be a bay for a speed camera van. Unlikely on a roundabout, though.

[AndyB]

It’s for maintenance vehicles to park up. If your arriving in a van to cut the grass or repair a sign, it’s better to have a safe place to park your van off the road than have to park in the roadway and carry heavy equipment through running traffic.

They are a relatively new thing - I’ve only seen them in the last ten years - and they reflect the difficulty created by brick-built chevrons for access to the middle, especially because of the banking required for the chevrons.

It wasn’t an issue with grass-only roundabouts because it’s much easier to get a lawnmower over a single kerb as you would from a van to a verge the other side of a flat footway than over the brick-built chevrons.

[wallmeerkat]

Some at the bottom of hills are also escape lanes - https://www.google.com/maps/@51.126084, ... ?entry=ttu

[tom66]

I assumed this bay in Bradford (when I lived in Leeds and visited occasionally) was for a speed camera van
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7825649 ... ?entry=ttu

But seeing the traffic controller box nearby it might just be for maintenance, or serve a double purpose.

[wallmeerkat]

The new roundabout at Magherabouy, A6 (NI), they seemed to move the 'parking bay' / straightline access for exceptional loads before it opened

GSV 2022 shows it to the north of the roundabout https://www.google.com/maps/@54.9175163 ... ?entry=ttu

GSV 2023 has it more facing east https://www.google.com/maps/@54.9175279 ... ?entry=ttu

Edit: Presumably this was to previously allow loads using the old A6, and now the new A6.

[Owain]

I assumed this bay in Bradford (when I lived in Leeds and visited occasionally) was for a speed camera van
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7825649 ... ?entry=ttu

But seeing the traffic controller box nearby it might just be for maintenance, or serve a double purpose.

This was definitely being used by a camera van two Sundays back.

[Debaser]

It’s for maintenance vehicles to park up. If your arriving in a van to cut the grass or repair a sign, it’s better to have a safe place to park your van off the road than have to park in the roadway and carry heavy equipment through running traffic.

If you see one at a signalised junction they’re usually placed next to the cabinet containing the controller, for obvious reasons.

In some cases - I don’t think your example is one but it may be - a cut through that goes right through the island and out the other side is for long vehicles to cross, if they wouldn’t make it around the outside. They tend to appear on the line of approved routes for long loads.

Yep. All part of CDM and the requirement to design for maintenance.

[Berk]

It’s for maintenance vehicles to park up. If your arriving in a van to cut the grass or repair a sign, it’s better to have a safe place to park your van off the road than have to park in the roadway and carry heavy equipment through running traffic.

If you see one at a signalised junction they’re usually placed next to the cabinet containing the controller, for obvious reasons.

In some cases - I don’t think your example is one but it may be - a cut through that goes right through the island and out the other side is for long vehicles to cross, if they wouldn’t make it around the outside. They tend to appear on the line of approved routes for long loads.

Black Cat Roundabout had one built in. The original roundabout was left alone, but a new piece was added to it, providing a cut-through.

[Berk]

Some at the bottom of hills are also escape lanes - https://www.google.com/maps/@51.126084, ... ?entry=ttu

I appreciate the idea, but think it must be rubbish in practice. Will the weight of the vehicle actually stop you on the bed of the roundabout, or would you continue whizzing off into traffic??

I assumed this bay in Bradford (when I lived in Leeds and visited occasionally) was for a speed camera van
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.7825649 ... ?entry=ttu

But seeing the traffic controller box nearby it might just be for maintenance, or serve a double purpose.

This was definitely being used by a camera van two Sundays back.

I always find it ironic that to impose enforcement for safety purposes, police usually have nowhere to park except somewhere unsafe. There’s very little protection from errant vehicles there.

[jgharston]

Some at the bottom of hills are also escape lanes - https://www.google.com/maps/@51.126084, ... ?entry=ttu

I appreciate the idea, but think it must be rubbish in practice. Will the weight of the vehicle actually stop you on the bed of the roundabout, or would you continue whizzing off into traffic??

It's supposed to not take the weight, the vehicle sinks into the surface and loses its motion.

In 2016 the Blue Bank escape lane was washed out by floods. Some people attempted to drive through the washed-out retardant and found how effective it was. link

[Berk]

Looks like they needed a JCB…

[toxictots]

On a similar note, does anybody have any idea of what the purpose of this (https://ibb.co/J3nprz6) might be?
It doesn't look wide enough for a vehicle to park up in?

All I can think is that it's a foot space for volunteers/council to do gardening work at waist height rather than bend down ?

Located outside Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs.

[Chris5156]

That’s weird. There’s a manhole cover in the middle, which suggests there’s something underneath that needs to be accessed occasionally.

[Isleworth1961]

That’s weird. There’s a manhole cover in the middle, which suggests there’s something underneath that needs to be accessed occasionally.

It clearly pre-dates the roundabout. The majority of roundabouts on older roads have services that go straight across them - sewers, telephone ducts, electricity ducts etc. Creating access to them like that is the cheapest option.