Roundabouts

[expatriate]

I quite like the idea of turning the horrible Morass/Mack intersection into a roundabout or rotary or whatever we decide to call them. I have driven on them here and in other countries and find them the most efficient way of moving traffic, once you get used to them. They avoid unnecessary starting and stopping as well as being more aesthetic, in that the center provides an opportunity for sculpture or plantings. Detroit's very wide avenues could be well improved by the addition of a few more in strategic locations.

https://www.grossepointenews.com/art...lan-finalized/

[JonWylie]

I quite like the idea of turning the horrible Morass/Mack intersection into a roundabout or rotary or whatever we decide to call them. I have driven on them here and in other countries and find them the most efficient way of moving traffic, once you get used to them. They avoid unnecessary starting and stopping as well as being more aesthetic, in that the center provides an opportunity for sculpture or plantings. Detroit's very wide avenues could be well improved by the addition of a few more in strategic locations.

https://www.grossepointenews.com/art...lan-finalized/

So long as they are designed with bikes and pedestrians in mind, like this one has, I'm a huge fan

[Ray1936]

Roundabouts were introduced by the British in retaliation for their losses in a couple of wars we had with them.

[401don]

I think they're ideal for intersections that aren't very busy and so Detroit would have a lot of suitable locations. I've also driven in them in heavy traffic in Florida and Cape Cod and found them a nightmare to merge into, probably because I'm just not used to them.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I think they're ideal for intersections that aren't very busy and so Detroit would have a lot of suitable locations. I've also driven in them in heavy traffic in Florida and Cape Cod and found them a nightmare to merge into, probably because I'm just not used to them.

This, and the fact that most senior drivers get confused by them. Most of the accidents that happen [[which is rare) involve older drivers.

[401don]

This, and the fact that most senior drivers get confused by them. Most of the accidents that happen [[which is rare) involve older drivers.

Hey! I resemble that remark.

[Maof]

I think they're ideal for intersections that aren't very busy and so Detroit would have a lot of suitable locations. I've also driven in them in heavy traffic in Florida and Cape Cod and found them a nightmare to merge into, probably because I'm just not used to them.

They're called rotaries in Massachusetts. It's a whole new ball game out there. I drove them 30 years ago and it was hell. My daughter lives in Boston and I leave the driving to her or my husband. It's every man for himself.

[mikefmich]

They're called rotaries in Massachusetts. It's a whole new ball game out there. I drove them 30 years ago and it was hell. My daughter lives in Boston and I leave the driving to her or my husband. It's every man for himself.

Aye! First roundabout I stumbled across was during my 1987 trip to Boston. I don't remember how many times I went in a circle until I was able to escape that insanity. I thought for sure I was gonna die.

[Maof]

Aye! First roundabout I stumbled across was during my 1987 trip to Boston. I don't remember how many times I went in a circle until I was able to escape that insanity. I thought for sure I was gonna die.

LOL....I get it!

[Ray1936]

Aye! First roundabout I stumbled across was during my 1987 trip to Boston. I don't remember how many times I went in a circle until I was able to escape that insanity. I thought for sure I was gonna die.

Boston. Sheesh. What was that song about the Boston MTA where "he never returned, no, he never returned, and his fate is still unknown. He rides forever 'neath the streets of Boston, and he never returned."

[Jimaz]

Boston. Sheesh. What was that song about the Boston MTA where "he never returned, no, he never returned, and his fate is still unknown. He rides forever 'neath the streets of Boston, and he never returned."

The Kingston Trio - M.T.A.

"M.T.A.", often called "The MTA Song", is a 1949 song by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes. Known informally as "Charlie on the MTA", the song's lyrics tell of a man named Charlie trapped on Boston's subway system, then known as the Metropolitan Transit Authority [[MTA). The song was originally recorded as a mayoral campaign song for Progressive Party candidate Walter A. O'Brien. A version of the song with the candidate's name changed became a 1959 hit when recorded and released by the Kingston Trio, an American folk group.

The song has become so entrenched in Boston lore that the Boston-area transit authority named its electronic card-based fare collection system the "CharlieCard" as a tribute to this song. The transit organization, now called the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority [[MBTA), held a dedication ceremony for the card system in 2004 which featured a performance of the song by the Kingston Trio and then-governor Mitt Romney.

[mikefmich]

Boston. Sheesh. What was that song about the Boston MTA where "he never returned, no, he never returned, and his fate is still unknown. He rides forever 'neath the streets of Boston, and he never returned."

Spot on! lol

Have you ever driven in Boston Ray? Right near the top of my shit list alongside Baltimore & NYC. Boston ranks 1st I think.

[Don K]

I think they're ideal for intersections that aren't very busy and so Detroit would have a lot of suitable locations. I've also driven in them in heavy traffic in Florida and Cape Cod and found them a nightmare to merge into, probably because I'm just not used to them.

In New Jersey when I was younger we called them traffic circles, and they were placed in all sorts of high-traffic intersections [[think of a hypothetical intersection between Telegraph and Woodward and you get the idea). These all were nightmares to merge into and to leave, and have pretty much all been cut through or turned into freeway-type interchanges.

The ones around here I'm most familiar with [[along 14-Mile and Maple in West Bloomfield) work pretty well because they're the intersections of two-lane roads and not major highways. They do save time, especially if you're making the equivalent of a left turn.

[Meddle]

This Eurojunk needs to be outlawed.

[Scottathew]

This Eurojunk needs to be outlawed.

Your language indicates hostility toward things because they're from Europe. That's a bad look. Xenophobia will cause us to miss out on things like roundabouts, which save lives.

Rochester Hills has implemented several roundabouts with great success. Two more roundabouts are slated for either side of Yates Cider Mill [[Dequindre\Avon\23 Mile). More are being talked about for other intersections.

I'm glad to see we're implementing more roundabouts here in metro Detroit.

[Danny]

I see a roundabout in Southfield at Civic Center Drive and Evergreen Rd. It's working very good. I like to see one in Detroit.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Your language indicates hostility toward things because they're from Europe. That's a bad look. Xenophobia will cause us to miss out on things like roundabouts, which save lives.

Rochester Hills has implemented several roundabouts with great success. Two more roundabouts are slated for either side of Yates Cider Mill [[Dequindre\Avon\23 Mile). More are be talked about for other intersections.

I'm glad to see we're implementing more roundabouts here in metro Detroit.

But we are ‘Muricans and we know more than anybody!

[KnnNike]

This Eurojunk needs to be outlawed.

This Eurojunk is responsible for thousands of people not dying in crashes around the United States each year...if you get in a crash in a roundabout, you're almost certainly going to walk away.

Do you really want more people to die because you can't adapt to a very simple change on the roadway that has been common in the U.S. for 20+ years?

[Gistok]

I do like the roundabout concept [[love the ones on Utica Rd. and Romeo Plank Rd. in Macomb Twp. [[also the huge one at 18 1/2 Mile & Van Dyke). I also think that E. Jefferson and E. Grand Blvd. at the entrance to Belle Isle would be well suited for a large roundabout to get rid of all those left turn issues.

Roundabouts are known for their continuous flow... I can see that the current pedestrian friendly 7-Mack intersection, might create a problem for traffic, if it's narrowed down, and then further slowed due to pedestrian stoppages.

Also, if I were riding my bike in that area, I would want to avoid that intersection as well.

Like I said... narrowing down all the roadways going into that intersection and then adding pedestrians into the mix... would give me pause.

P.S. I wonder if the NIMBY crowd in the Grosse Pointe Farms is ever going to allow the park-like southern corner of that interchange [[former site of a Sears outlet, Hughes Hatcher and Kroger stores) be developed, since it is a prime development corner.

[EGrant]

I do like the roundabout concept [[love the ones on Utica Rd. and Romeo Plank Rd. in Macomb Twp. [[also the huge one at 18 1/2 Mile & Van Dyke).

That intersection at 19 and Romeo Plank was a nightmare when school or an event was going on at Chippewa Valley, before they added the roundabout. Vastly better now.

[bust]

P.S. I wonder if the NIMBY crowd in the Grosse Pointe Farms is ever going to allow the park-like southern corner of that interchange [[former site of a Sears outlet, Hughes Hatcher and Kroger stores) be developed, since it is a prime development corner.

That's not the problem.

It has been proposed [[multiple times) that the empty corner be developed for municipal functions, including moving the GPF police station there from its longtime location where it's practically hidden in a quiet neighborhood on Kerby. The area around Mack/Moross suffers many more break-ins and other property crimes, and it's hoped a greater police presence will reduce that. Besides, there are many fewer people and just a lot less activity around the old station anyway. But the people around the old station are a lot richer, and they keep blocking the initiative. They don't want the station further away, they want it to stay in their back yard.

I hope common sense wins the day, but it's been decades that it hasn't.

Edit: As far as that intersection becoming a roundabout, the design they proposed surprises me. Usually their focus is on moving as many cars through without interruption, and they're terrible for pedestrians. But this one would calm the traffic and would improve the walking experience, as long as drivers respect the right of way of pedestrians on the crosswalks. I'm not sure if that would happen, and if so how that wouldn't cause cars to get backed up in the circle. There aren't good alternatives, but maybe it would work by discouraging enough drivers from heading there in the first place?

[expatriate]

Agreed. Jefferson/Grand Blvd. would be a perfect candidate, but there are many other opportunities on the incredibly wide avenues like Gratiot, Grand River, Michigan and perhaps even Woodward/8 Mile.

[401don]

Agreed. Jefferson/Grand Blvd. would be a perfect candidate, but there are many other opportunities on the incredibly wide avenues like Gratiot, Grand River, Michigan and perhaps even Woodward/8 Mile.

It's been a few years since I've been on one, and it's usually in places with very few pedestrians, but I can't remember exactly how do roundabouts handle them? When there's traffic, cars wait for their opening and then often speed into the roundabout. Do they have to watch for a pedestrian before exiting the other side? Do they stop or continue around again until it's clear?

[1953]

I am opposed to roundabouts. They degrade the urban experience.

1953

[Gistok]

I am opposed to roundabouts. They degrade the urban experience.

1953

Not always... Campus Martius is an odd shaped roundabout in the very heart of Detroit.

And NYC Columbus Circle is a hive of activity [[I would love something like this at the entrance to Belle Isle)....