Roundabouts in HRM

[joeyedm]

again our council shows ZERO ZERO ZERO leadership.

[-Harlington-]

I never thought that this was the best place for a roundabout anyway, and really with that many people opposing, it its not like a few here and there and the squeeky wheel thing but there was hundreds opposing it.
And its not like armdale where thats mostly a traffic artery anyway, its a commuinity and i can think better places to put a roundabout, but they do need to do something with that intersection, although you could say that about a lot of them.

[joeyedm]

this was nothing but our council bending to the will of a bunch of SMELLY OLD NUMBYS who have no businesss opening their mouths.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by joeyedm

this was nothing but our council bending to the will of a bunch of SMELLY OLD NUMBYS who have no businesss opening their mouths.

citizens always have the right to voice their opinions. Council isn't bound to listen to them, but must govern to the best of their abilities given the input they gather from staff, their constituents, and via their own efforts. Not saying that they make the right decisions, but I don't think it's accurate to say that the local citizens who attended a public meeting had "no business opening their mouths." Perhaps you should have been there to counter their fears and convince council that a traffic circle would really make that area safer for cars, and encourage pedestrian activity and active transportation.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by joeyedm

this was nothing but our council bending to the will of a bunch of SMELLY OLD NUMBYS who have no businesss opening their mouths.

Very mature comment.

[Canadian_Bacon]

I don't think roundabouts/ rotaries should be placed in the city or busy residential areas with pedestrians. They are more for outside the city, on busy road's where it's pretty much all vehicle traffic. In the city it's alot of pedestrian traffic, so these road systems don't work as well.

I think one of the problems in Halifax is people (government or public) don't understand a rotary, or roundabout or how they work best. They think it works fine in one situation, so it must work fine in another situation. By the sounds of it, Halifax councillors want to put them everywhere. But you can't really do that as alot of areas have alot of pedestrian traffic. Alot of intersections these roadways are proposed would be just fine with a set of lights.

In a city, even with a rotary, traffic would back up (maybe not as bad as an intersection) but traffic would still be slow as you have pedestrians crossing, cars going around the circle, cars would have to wait to enter, plus all kinds of roads coming into the rotary etc. etc. (Plus you'd have those with zero patience and just go, not waiting for an opening. Or those not knowing how the circle works, thus slowing everyone down.) It's not as efficient in a city as it would be on a highway or less populated area etc. Where a roundabout/ rotary is more suited.

Even when you look at Columbus Circle in NYC... It has lights to help control traffic. So lights are not all bad

Maybe this is what Halifax needs to do in it's more busy intersections in the city. Have a roundabout with lights. This way pedestrians can still have a chance to cross without having to be scared to death.

Something like Columbus Circle.

[someone123]

I could see something like that for the Willow Tree and Cogswell/North Park because they involve more than two streets intersecting.

Something else to note is that Columbus Circle is attractive and provides public space, not just empty grass. It is very similar to the Willow Tree in Halifax, which is also at the corner of a park. Columbus Circle, like the Willow Tree, involves an intersection of more than two streets (Broadway goes through there at an odd angle). Presumably Columbus Circle handles far more traffic than the Willow Tree - it was certainly busy when I was there.

[joeyedm]

your right i should have gone to the meeting however i dont live in the neighbourhood.

my comment certainly was in mature, however im just getting tired of listening to small mnded people who do nothing but sit and point fingers mockinly at the engineers who have spent years getting educated and know more about their field then 10 of those morons who show up at the meetings. Listening to the applause that people get for making ridiculous comment, but think they pointing the obviouse.

Its the same with those morons at save the view. save what view? the view to the refinery? And what tourist comes to this city to climb a hill to look at a view??

Im sorry im just frustrated, frustrated by the lack of leadership in this city, the pandering to the special interests who are doing nothing but ruining this city.

I think im just going to bury my head in the sand and be oblivious to everything that goes on this city. at least i wont be so frustrated all the time

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by joeyedm

your right i should have gone to the meeting however i dont live in the neighbourhood.

my comment certainly was in mature, however im just getting tired of listening to small mnded people who do nothing but sit and point fingers mockinly at the engineers who have spent years getting educated and know more about their field then 10 of those morons who show up at the meetings. Listening to the applause that people get for making ridiculous comment, but think they pointing the obviouse.

Its the same with those morons at save the view. save what view? the view to the refinery? And what tourist comes to this city to climb a hill to look at a view??

Im sorry im just frustrated, frustrated by the lack of leadership in this city, the pandering to the special interests who are doing nothing but ruining this city.

I think im just going to bury my head in the sand and be oblivious to everything that goes on this city. at least i wont be so frustrated all the time

I can understand your frustration. I would like to see things progress more quickly in the HRM. Having lived in the Toronto area for the past 30 years, I have gotten accustomed to seeing things move quickly (however, it isn't always good - example the Gardiner Expressway through downtown Toronto - it was built long before I moved up here).

In the case of rotaries, I think that is necessary for the traffic planners to figure out a safe way for pedestrians to cross before they will be widely accepted within the city.

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by someone123

I could see something like that for the Willow Tree and Cogswell/North Park because they involve more than two streets intersecting.

Something else to note is that Columbus Circle is attractive and provides public space, not just empty grass. It is very similar to the Willow Tree in Halifax, which is also at the corner of a park. Columbus Circle, like the Willow Tree, involves an intersection of more than two streets (Broadway goes through there at an odd angle). Presumably Columbus Circle handles far more traffic than the Willow Tree - it was certainly busy when I was there.

I was thinking the very same thing! I'd gladly reserve my anti-roundabout judgements if they promised something like Columbus Circle outside my window at the Willow Tree. (so long as they resist the urge to plant a damn willow tree in the centre, or worse yet.. a giant metal lighthouse)!!

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

I could see something like that for the Willow Tree and Cogswell/North Park because they involve more than two streets intersecting.

Something else to note is that Columbus Circle is attractive and provides public space, not just empty grass. It is very similar to the Willow Tree in Halifax, which is also at the corner of a park. Columbus Circle, like the Willow Tree, involves an intersection of more than two streets (Broadway goes through there at an odd angle). Presumably Columbus Circle handles far more traffic than the Willow Tree - it was certainly busy when I was there.

How does it accommodate pedestrian traffic?

[tribeachpunk]

Coming soon to HRM?



Charlottetown to hold roundabout training
Friday, June 18, 2010 | 7:22 PM AT

City officials in Charlottetown, P.E.I., will hold a traffic circle training school on Saturday morning to help ease anxiety about the new roundabouts being built across the city.

Instructors will help drivers learn the basic rules of traffic circles and allow them to practice on a mock course in the parking lot of the Charlottetown Mall. The training will run from 8 to 11 a.m.

Four traffic circles are being constructed in Charlottetown, with the first slated to open next week.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edwa...#ixzz0rLSoX0uv

[Keith P.]

There is traffic in Charlottetown?

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

There is traffic in Charlottetown?

Getting ready for the Regis and Kelly rush.

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

How does it accommodate pedestrian traffic?

From the look of the picture it funnels pedestrians along crosswalk "spokes" into the inner circle, around the monument. There is a traffic light at each crosswalk. I wonder if it is user-activated, or if they work on a timed cycle.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

From the look of the picture it funnels pedestrians along crosswalk "spokes" into the inner circle, around the monument. There is a traffic light at each crosswalk. I wonder if it is user-activated, or if they work on a timed cycle.

It is timed for certain during the day and probably 24 hours. There's a tremendous amount of pedestrian traffic in that area and if there were a timer it would always be activated anyway.

I don't remember how it worked but I could see this working using the "scramble" approach where periodically you let all pedestrians go and then you let vehicles go either all at once or in stages. For pedestrians it looks much better to have them move directly into the centre of the circle. Not sure if they'd be able to cross in a single stage.

Another possibility would be pedestrian tunnels or overpasses but those rarely end up working well.

[halifaxboyns]

So I had to run to the Walmart super centre in Deerfoot Meadows (here in Calgary) to return on an item I purchased there and as I was getting ready to leave, heard there had been an accident on McLeod Trail - which is normally the way I go to get to Deerfoot Meadows (McLeod south to Heritage Drive and then east into the commercial area). Deerfoot Meadows for those of you who don't know it is where the Ikea store in Calgary is located, along with other big box retail.

I decided to take a bit of a different root and drive through Ramsay and then down Blackfoot Trail to avoid the traffic. When I was short cutting by the City of Calgary's water centre by the stampede site; I stumbled onto a new roundabout - that was built around a busy railway crossing. It was the coolest thing I'd seen; but alas I didn't have a camera. I won't be in the area for the next 9 days (given stampede); but as soon as I can get down there, I'll snap some photos.

[Dmajackson]

Not open to vehicular traffic yet (and not paved either) but here are some photos of the Larry Uteck @ Starboard roundabout in Bedford (near the new interchange). The photos are of the landscaping, nine mile drive, larry uteck drive west and staboard drive, respectively;

[Dmajackson]

I found a tutorial on how to use a roundabout on the PEI's government website. I think drivers in around Armdale need to see one of these;

http://www.gov.pe.ca/tir/roundabout/flash.php

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I found a tutorial on how to use a roundabout on the PEI's government website. I think drivers in around Armdale need to see one of these;

http://www.gov.pe.ca/tir/roundabout/flash.php

Thanks for posting this - Alberta is going big on roundabouts and drivers here need the lesson. I showed it around the office; we had a good laugh. One of my coworkers asked me to email it to all Calgary drivers.