2 day Roundabout

Design Workshop

Instructor:
Howard McCulloch
The Disclaimer
The opinions expressed by
NE ROUNDABOUTS are that of
NE ROUNDABOUTS and not
necessarily that of NYSDOT

Roundabout Workshop

Module 1: History, Background & Examples

Circular Intersection History

1900s - 1940s

Rotaries and Traffic Circles Used

1950s

Circular Intersections fell out of favor

1963

Great Britain redesigns the Circular

Intersection

1980s

Modern Roundabout used throughout

Europe and Australia

1990s

Modern Roundabout utilized in the U.S.

Greater than 1000 now built in U.S.
Over 300 more to be built this year alone

Columbus Circle N.Y.C.

Roundabouts / Traffic Circles

Washington D.C. - Master Plan

Problems w/ Traffic Circles & Rotaries

A Scene from European Vacation

Traffic Circle vs. Roundabout

Malta Roundabout superimposed on Latham Traffic Circle
Tangential Approach
geometry
vs.
Deflected Approach
geometry

No European Vacation
type entrapment here

Traffic Circle vs. Roundabout

Kingston Traffic Circle Under Construction to become a Roundabout

Traffic Circle vs. Roundabout

Johnson City Traffic Circle becomes Roundabout

Traffic Circle vs. Roundabout

Roundabouts do not have pedestrian facilities to center island

Truck Apron Should NOT Look

Like Crosswalk

U.S. Modern Roundabout History

1990

First Modern Roundabout in Nevada

1992

Floridas first Modern Roundabout

1993

Marylands first Modern Roundabout

1995

Vermonts first Modern Roundabout

2000

New Yorks first Modern Roundabout

2004

Pennsylvanias first Modern Roundabout

2004

Virginias first Modern Roundabout

2004

Delawares first Modern Roundabout

2004

Ohios first Modern Roundabout

Leading Roundabout States

Colorado

> 150

Washington

> 100

Utah

> 90

Maryland

> 80

North Carolina

> 40

Oregon

> 35

Florida

> 30

Kansas

> 25

California & Nevada > 20 each

New York

at least 16, with > 50 in design

throughout the state

New York Roundabouts

Kingston

2 laner that replaced traffic circle

North Haven

single laner that was supposed 1 of 2

Corning (x2)

(2) 2 laners that were done for access

Griffiss

2 laner done in old air force base

Rochester

single laner on RIT campus

Latham

2 laner from a restriped traffic circle

Great Neck

single laner that replaced signalized circle

Voorheesville

single laner that replaced yield Y

Greenwich

single laner that replaced signalized T

Ithaca

single laner done without DOT knowledge

Plattsburgh

single laner that replaced signalized 4-way

North Haven Long Island

Rome Former Griffiss Air Force Base

Rochester R.I.T. Campus

Great Neck Long Island (as signalized traffic circle)

Great Neck Long Island (as Modern Roundabout)

Great Neck Long Island

Voorheesville Capital District New York

Greenwich Eastern New York

Ithaca Central New York

Plattsburgh Northern New York

Upcoming New York Roundabouts

Johnson City:

In construction

Malta:

I-87 exit 12, Rt. 67 Corridor (5)

Colonie:

Albany Shaker Road @ Maxwell Road

Troy:

Rt. 2 @ Pawling Avenue

Buffalo Area:

Harlem Rd. (3), Hamburg (4)

Liberty:

I-86 exit 100 (1), Rt. 55 @ Rt. 52 (1)

Kinderhook:

Rt. 9 @ Rt. 9H, 5 leg roundabout

Glens Falls Area

(3) urban roundabouts

New York should average over 15 per year.

Roundabout Solutions
I-87 Exit 12 - Malta roundabout corridor

Short Queuing Area

Roundabout Solutions
I-87 Exit 12 - Malta roundabout corridor

Narrow Bridge
U-turns / Access Control

Roundabout Solutions
I-87 Exit 12 - Malta roundabout corridor

Visual Simulation

View at Route 9 and Route 67

Visual Simulation

View of Route 67 at Cemetery

Visual Simulation

View of Route 67 at Malta Commons

Visual Simulation

View of Route 67 at Exit 12 Interchange

I-890 & Curry Road Ext. Rotterdam

A typical cloverleaf weave fix

Rochester
The Peanut

Harlem Rd, Buffalo Single lane opening

Harlem Rd, Buffalo multi lane future

Glens Falls 5 leg urban

South Glens Falls elliptical single lane

Northeastern States Roundabout Status

Maine (97) & New Hampshire (03) both have a few and
are progressing designs
Vermont (95) has around 5 open and a few in the works,
used to be the leading NE state
Massachusetts (01) & Rhode Island (02) each have at least 1
built and are looking
to have state
guidelines developed
Connecticut (95) has 7 or so built and ConnDOT has recently
released rough guidelines will only
allow single lane designs

Mass Transit at Rutgers - NJ

Provided by Gannett Fleming, Inc. and NJ DOT

People Leaving Work at Princeton - NJ

PENN DOT Guide to Roundabouts

Publication No. 414 May 2001
Prepared by Michael Baker Jr., Inc.
Guidelines for Implementation
Excellent Questionnaire
5 Case Studies
Comments were provided for Williamsport
where 5 roundabouts were being considered

Roundabout Workshop
Module 2: Safety

Why are Roundabouts Being Considered?

Safest Intersection
High Capacity / Low Delay
Good for All Modes of Traffic
Geometric Flexibility
Aesthetics

Top Ten Crash Fatality States

States Actively Progressing Roundabouts

Intersection Related Fatalities

89% reduction in fatalities = approx. 8,500 lives per year
51,000 lives on this chart alone

1000+/-

Roundabouts
2004 Preconstruction Training Conference

Presenter
Presenter
Howard
Howard McCulloch
McCulloch
Roundabout
Roundabout && Intersection
Intersection Design
Design Specialist
Specialist

Lloyd
Lloyd Rue
Rue
Design
-traffic-safety Engineer
Design-traffic-safety
Engineer
FHWA
FHWA Montana
Montana

Crash Reduction Shoulder

Widening
Widen shoulder from 0-8 ft (FHWA-RD-91-046)
60

Percent reduction

50
40
30
20
10
0
est. % reduction related
accidents

est. % reduction total

accidents

Crash Reduction Rumble Strips

Rumble strip crash reduction (FHWA-RD-00-032)
20
18

percent reduction

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
est. % reduction in ROR
crashes

est. % reduction in total

crashes

Crash Reduction Turn Lanes

Add major road right turn and left turn lanes at 4legged urban signalized intersection (FHWA-RD-02-103)
30

percent reduction

25
20
15
10
5
0
est. % reduction in intersection related crashes

Crash Reduction - Roundabout

Conversion of existing intersection to
small/moderate sized roundabout (FHWA-RD-00-067)
80
70

% reduction

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
est. % reduction for
est. % reduction for
small/moderate
small/moderate
roundabout total crashes roundabout imjury crashes

Safety Impacts of Modern Roundabouts

Type of
Converted
Roundabout from

Single
Lane, Urban
Single
Lane, Rural
Multi-lane,
Urban
Urban
All

Stop
Controlled
Stop
Controlled
Stop
Controlled
Signalized

Source: NYSDOT Study October 2003

# of
Percent
Conversions Reduction
of all
Crashes
12
69%

Percent
Reduction
of Injury
Crashes
80%

65%

68%

8%

73%

5
33

37%
47%

75%
72%

WARNING
The video you are about to see is
somewhat graphic. The pedestrian
shown in this video does actually
survive. The pedestrian was
pronounced dead on the scene, revived
in the ambulance on the way to the
hospital, and has made a full recovery.

RED LIGHT RUNNING CAMERA

40 MPH T-Bone Crash

INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR

HIGHWAY SAFETY
CRASH REDUCTIONS FOLLOWING INSTALLATION OF
ROUNDABOUTS IN THE UNITED STATES MARCH 2000

Reduction of Total Crashes

39%

Reduction of Injury Crashes

76%

Reduction of Fatal and

Incapacitating Crashes

89%

On the web at: www.highwaysafety.org

2004 Safety Data from Maryland DOT

Reduction of Total Crashes by 68%
Reduction of Property Damage Only
Crashes by 41%
Reduction of Injury Crashes by 86%
Reduction of Fatal / Incapacitating
Crashes by 100%

This resulted in a B/C analysis that indicated for every dollar spent on these
projects, considering the 15-year service life of the roundabouts, there is a
return of approximately $15.00 to be realized through accident reduction.

Towson, Maryland - Before

Towson, Maryland - After

Montpelier, VT Roundabout
Around 300 from a school

600 children per day

800 pedestrians per day

13,000 vehicles per day

Only 4 reportable crashes

in 10 years
injury accidents down 69%

There are now over 40

roundabouts near schools

HOWARD, WISCONSIN
The following are taken from:
www.co.brown.wi.us/Planning/forms/lineville_roundabout_study.pdf

Bicycling has been made safer, and students are now allowed to bike to school. The president
of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin also believes the roundabouts are safe and convenient
for bicyclists and supports their construction throughout the state

Reportable vehicle crashes have virtually disappeared from the two intersections and injuries
have been eliminated. This occurred in spite of the introduction of hundreds of inexperienced
drivers to Lineville Roads existing traffic load after the new high school opened in August of
2000

The director of the Brown County Sheriffs Departments Patrol Division and the principal of Bay
View Middle School both believe that traffic congestion and speeding have been significantly
reduced along Lineville Road. The patrol director and principal also believe that safety has
been greatly enhanced by the roundabouts.

Semi-trailer trucks, school busses, fire trucks, and other large vehicles can easily pass through
the roundabouts. The manager of the school bus company that serves the Howard-Suamico
School District even stated that he would recommend roundabouts in other school districts.

WASHINGTON STATE ROUNDABOUT

WASHINGTON SAFETY RECORD

Excerpts from Draft HDM Chapter 5

Roundabout Workshop
Module 3: Capacity Software

Roundabout Capacity Software

aaSIDRA
RODEL / ARCADY
SYNCHRO 6
Results of NCHRP 3-65
VISSIM
PARAMICS

Two Types of Capacity Prediction Models

Gap Theory

Empirical

SIDRA, SYNCHRO,
VISSIM, Paramics
Theoretical Capacity
Seeing is believing

RODEL or ARCADY
Based on field
measurements, not
theory
Capacity measured
during at capacity
operation in U.K.

Note: They can give very different results

SIDRA
Developed in Australia
Gap theory analysis
Geometric parameters partially considered
Used by 90% of the country
Does signals, most other intersections also
Calculates emissions
Cost - $850 +/-

SIDRA
Concerns over high capacity predictions
with low circulating flows can be resolved
use 1.2 Environment Factor:

RODEL / ARCADY
Developed in Great Britain
Empirical analysis
Geometric parameters considered
Used by 30% of the country
Some states use along with SIDRA

D.O.S. based
Metric Only
Only models roundabouts
Cost - $800 for 1st copy then $300 each

Why Roundabouts Re-emerged

Research on 35
geometric variations
Many roundabouts
were rehabilitated
and new sites were
considered
Follow up study
confirmed the
capacity prediction
equations were valid

TRL study test track (U.K.) - 1968

Empirical Model
Strongly relates capacity to detailed
geometry
Accidents also directly related to geometry
Great tool for the design engineer
Helps find the optimum geometry

Capacity of an Approach

Roundabout Capacity Prediction

The capacity of each entry to a roundabout was found
to be a function of entering flow, circulating flow, and
six geometric parameters.
Parameter

Symbol

Capacity = maximum
entering flow, pcu/hr
Circulating flow, pcu/hr
Entry width, m
Approach width, m
Length of flare, m
Inscribed circle dia., m
Entry angle, degrees
Entry radius, m

Qe
Qc
E
V
L
D
f
R

Geometric Parameters

Effective Geometric Parameters

V = Approach
Roadway
Width
E = Entry Width
L = Effective
Flare
Length
D = Inscribed
Circle Diameter
R = Entry Radius
Phi = Entry angle

RODEL = ROundabout DELay

Delays and the V/C Ratio

Capacity is VERY sensitive to geometry
Delay Is VERY sensitive to capacity
Therefore, delays can be incredibly sensitive
to geometry
The secret lies in the Delay-V/C curve
This is the CRUX of intersection design
Paradoxically the larger the delays and
queues, the easier they are to reduce.

RODELs Confidence Level input

V/C Ratio

100% CL

85% CL

50% CL

Confidence
Level range

Other
programs
only model
here

0% CL

Delay

Allows for variation / error in V/C Ratio assumption

SYNCHRO / SimTraffic 6
Uses HCM 2000 equations
Dont think any states use HCM 2000
Geometric parameters not considered
Recently released
Compared to real sites?
Will only analyze single lane roundabouts
SIM Traffic will simulate 4 lane

Doesnt calculate L.O.S. based on delay

Will do most other intersections

SYNCHRO clip Single Lane Roundabout

SYNCHRO clip Multi Lane Roundabout

SYNCHRO clip - Interchange

NCHRP 3-65
National Cooperative Highway Research Program
Project is wrapping up
FHWA would like U.S. program
Will be gap theory based
Formula will not allow the excessive capacity prediction that some of
the other gap theory models can provide

*See the 3-65 shows from TRB Conference*

Simulation Programs
Not typically used for roundabout design
are being used to visually check predictions
Great tools for Public Info Meetings
Able to show network impacts
Visually displays improved performance
provided by roundabouts
VISSIM seems to be top choice
Paramics is comparable but more expensive

Slingerlands Bypass Overview

Blessing Road Traffic Simulation

VISSIM Clip using Level 1 - $2000

VISSIM Clip *see the TRB show*

VISSIM Clip using Level 2 - $2000 more

VISSIM Clip colors based on speed

VISSIM Clip Rt 44 Smithfield, RI

Paramics Clip costs around $12,000

Paramics Clip