NYS DOT to hold public meeting Nov. 14 on proposed roundabout in Alabama

Why is the answer to every traffic problem a roundabout? Alleghany Road is a major highway and Ledge Road is like any other rural road that crosses a highway. There is no sightline problem from any direction. Granted there are a number of accidents at that intersection, but the majority of those are from drivers who either don't see the stop signs on Ledge Road or choose to ignore them. I travel through that intersection regularly and have NEVER had a problem. Might I suggest a flashing traffic signal? Red on Ledge, yellow on Alleghany. If that doesn't solve the problem then install a traffic light where everybody has to stop. If you build a roundabout everybody will have to stop anyway. All I see is an unnecessary waste of our tax dollars.

The answer is in this story:

https://www.thebatavian.com/howard-owens/dot-presents-case-suicide-corn…

Short answer, they are magnitudes safer than any other intervention at a right-angle intersection.

Since when does everyone have to stop at a roundabout? All entries to a roundabout have yield signs. The only time one has to stop is when another vehicle has the right of way.

When there are vehicles, many of which are tractor trailers traveling at 55 to 60 miles an hour and they come to a roundabout they had better stop or you will have a far worse situation than you have now. Think demolition derby.

Good point, Ray. If a roundabout is built in that location, it'll be interesting to see what materializes.

First off, the "southern" arc of the roundabout will be further up the hill - towards Indian Falls. That gives north-bound motorists, on Rt. 77, LESS time to slow down. Add in the attributes of a 60,000-70,000 pound vehicle, barreling over the crest of a curved, downhill, icy/slippery winter roadway.

YEE-HAA!

Signage will be all-important, IMO. Perhaps something akin to the Warsaw Rt.20A "East hill" approach might be called for. Overhead blinking lights, etc.

People using the road make mistakes (like running stop signs and red lights), always have and always will. Crashes will always be with us, but they need not result in fatalities or serious injury.

Modern roundabouts are the safest form of intersection in the world - the intersection type with the lowest risk of fatal or serious injury crashes - (much more so than comparable signals). Modern roundabouts require a change in speed and alter the geometry of one of the most dangerous parts of the system - intersections.

The reduction in speed to about 20 mph and sideswipe geometry mean that, when a crash does happen at a modern roundabout, you usually need a tow truck, not an ambulance. Visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for modern roundabout FAQs and safety facts. Roundabouts are one of several proven road safety features (FHWA).
The life saved may be your own.
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/provencountermeasures/roundabouts/
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/innovative/roundabouts/

Modern, slow and go, roundabout intersections have less daily delay than a stop light or stop sign, especially the other 20 hours a day people aren’t driving to or from work (it’s the #2 reason they’re built). Average daily delay at a signal is around 12 seconds per car. At a modern roundabout average daily delay is less than five seconds. Signals take an hour of demand and restrict it to a half hour, at best only half the traffic gets to go at any one time. 'At best' because traffic signals must have the yellow and all red portion (6+ seconds per cycle) for safety, and modern roundabouts do not. At a modern roundabout, drivers entering from different directions can all enter at the same time. Don’t try that with a signalized intersection.

Roads using signals are often widened just because of the signal delay and need to store cars waiting for a green. Roundabouts reduce such need for wider roads between roundabout intersections. A future expense avoided.