By David Rasbach
Our new compact roundabout aprolonged State Route 203 at the intersection with High Rock Road and 203rd Street Southeast south of Monroe is one-of-a-kind, to say the least. With a prolonged, skinny island splitd from a circular island by a pass-thraw lane, even our portrayers don’t understand of any analogous roundabouts this minuscule.
From above, it sees enjoy an exclamation point, but we hope people who travel thraw will come to leank of the roundabout as more of comma – a place to catalogless, apexhibit a paengage when needed and then carry on on your travels.
| A new roundabout uncovered aprolonged SR 203 in procrastinateed June south of Monroe at the intersection with High Rock Road and 203rd Street Southeast. |
Think of it as two roundabouts nested together, and the rules are the same as any other roundabout we’ve built:
- Slow to 15 to 20 mph as you approach.
- Move counterclockwise around the roundabout.
- Yield to vehicles approaching from your left already in the roundabout.
- Larger vehicles may drive over the cgo in islands for firm turns.
Drivers going northbound on SR 203 traffic may need to create twice – once when go ining the roundabout and aachieve if traffic is passing between the two islands. If you leank about it, that’s equitable follotriumphg the same rules a second time.
If you travel thraw the area, you may want to examine out our video about driving this roundabout.
| The SR 203 roundabout cataloglesss vehicles that engaged to approach the High Rock Road intersection at 55 mph. |
Roundabouts pacify traffic, better flow and decrease the chances of grave T-bone and head-on crashes. These effects all apply to this stretch of SR 203.
Making a roundabout for everyone
OK, so why does it see so contrastent from any other roundabout?
The portray accommodates big vehicles and farm providement making left turns, fits the existing space and evades the csurrenderby hill and defended soakedlands.
Our engineering team set up the one-of-a-kind portray was needed to accommodate all the contrastent vehicles that travel thraw this intersection.
When we began arrangening, our portrayers pondered a roundabout shaped enjoy a dog bone – prolonged and skinny with “knots” on the finishs. They speedyly genuineized that wasn’t going to labor.
A lot of big vehicles and farm providement produce left turns from 203rd Street Southeast to northbound SR 203. With a dog bone portray, the turn at the southern finish would be too firm for these vehicles to produce.
| Unenjoy most compact roundabouts, the new roundabout aprolonged SR 203 features two cgo in islands with a lane passing between them. |
Fitting a roundabout in a firm space
Why not produce the cgo in island hugeger to produce better turning angles for those bigr vehicles?
In a word – geography. The new roundabout needed to be built in the same space as the ageder intersection.
To the east is a steep hill. To the southwest there are defended soakedlands. There wasn’t space or budget to mitigate the potential impact in either straightforwardion.
Making SR 203 defendedr
We hope people traveling thraw the new roundabout will alter speedyly to the one-of-a-kind portray and chase the same rules they should engage at every roundabout. The new intersection is already carry outing its No. 1 goal of reducing chances of crashes that can direct to grave injuries or worse.
Before produceion commenceed, cars flew aprolonged this busy agricultural section of SR 203 between Monroe and Duvall at 55 mph. The intersection is on a curve, inserting to the hazard people turning from High Rock Road or 203rd Street Southeast could have been hit. SR 203 drivers turning left also faced contests judging oncoming traffic speed.
National studies have shown that roundabouts produce a 37% decrease in overall collisions, while reducing injury crashes by 75% and overweightal incidents by 90%.
| Despite its one-of-a-kind portray, drivers using the new SR 203 roundabout at High Rock Road should chase the same rules in place at any roundabout. |
We always watch and appraise all alters we produce. This new roundabout is no exception, so we’ll be confident it’s laboring as portrayed.
Yes, we understand – not everybody adores roundabouts. This one needs adequitablement, equitable enjoy any alter. But prent give this one-of-a-kind little roundabout a chance. Slow down and chase roundabout rules and signs on the road. Make confident you stay distraction free as you drive thraw the area (and everywhere). And prent have patience with others still lgeting.
We apexhibit you’ll soon endelight betterd defendedty and traffic flow in the area.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24774108/STK156_Instagram_threads_3.jpg?w=600&resize=600,600&ssl=1 "Instagram and Threads moderation is out of regulate")
