On Sun, 6 Jun 2004 08:22:23 +0100, "Bob Wood"
wrote:

After the changes were made, speed through the junction lessened
considerably but so did the length of the queues. Overall the time spent
getting through the whole queue/junction was much shorter. I suppose it can
be likened to the variable speed limits on the M25 - reduce the
traffic speed and more traffic gets through the area in a given time.

I wonder how the usual option - traffic lights on the roundabout -
would perform in comparison?

I can think of a couple of roundabouts in Milton Keynes (other than
the one that already has lights) which could do with some slowing of
the traffic, as it sometimes approaches and negotiates the roundabout
at dangerous speeds (50mph is not impossible - the roundabout is so
wide that if there's very little traffic it's possible to take an
almost straight path across it so there is little need to slow down).

If anyone's interested, the main one concerned is the V11-H8
roundabout by the Kingston Centre. I've almost come to grief a few
times there - it's quite possible for traffic to approach up the H8
near the speed limit (70mph) and not be visible to someone waiting on
the V11 north side (due to the layout) until it is almost on the
roundabout. At that sort of speed, this is far too late and often
results in emergency braking being necessary (my car hasn't got enough
go to safely accelerate out of the way).

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To e-mail use neil at the above domain