To prove once again that the Netherlands is sometimes innovation itself: a roundabout based on a Dutch idea will be built in the United States.
Different countries have different ideas about how to solve a traffic situation. Take something as simple as an intersection. On highways it is often most convenient to build a cloverleaf-like intersection, while on smaller roads a 'normal' intersection with traffic lights is often chosen. What many countries – including the Netherlands – also see as a good solution is the roundabout.
Turbo roundabout
Admittedly, we Dutch love the roundabout, but we are certainly not its leader. Just look at nearby countries such as the United Kingdom. However, the Netherlands has a nice scoop to its name when it comes to roundabouts. In the United Kingdom you sometimes have complicated roundabouts where you are expected to know what to do yourself. The Netherlands made this more concrete with arrows and lines on the road by introducing the turbo roundabout.
The idea is usually like the example above in Lelystad. At a turbo roundabout you choose a lane in advance and stay in it. Thanks to a center conductor you cannot change lanes. Usually the right lane is for right and straight ahead, the left lane for straight ahead and left. This has the advantage that when you grant priority, you can see exactly whether someone is going to cross your path, if yes or if no. Now you can also see this through the use of direction indicators, but ask yourself how well that works in practice.
Dutch idea
The turbo roundabout has taken many forms in the Netherlands. If you want to visit the Autoblog office from the north, you will come across the unit below near Pijnacker, for example. Where the roundabout is literally split into three lanes so that you just have to follow the arrows and the rest takes care of itself.
So we have the scoop: the very first turbo roundabout is a Dutch idea and has been in Barendrecht since 2000. Since then, the idea has certainly gone international. That is the case again. In fact, the normally not so roundabout-oriented and quite conservative America wants to get rid of the Dutch turbo roundabout. In California in the United States, a dangerous intersection will soon be equipped with a turbo roundabout.
California gets Dutch turbo roundabout
On paper, the idea mainly resembles the latter example: there are three lanes to enter the roundabout: left, straight ahead and right. Then it's a matter of literally not leaving your lane and you'll get exactly where you need to be. For the country where everything is written out in detail on traffic signs and on the road, it is nice if it is clear. There are very few roundabouts in the US and the principle of priority at such a crazy round intersection is not yet clear to everyone. Whether it will work is another matter. (through Caltrans)
This article Americans run off with Dutch idea for roundabout first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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