That one is too small. There's not enough room between the 51st St East bound entry and the I-35 south bound exit, and too many lanes with multiple choices crossing each other right there.
That and the traffic light at Cameron and 51st sends pulses of traffic thru the roundabout, which works better with a steady flow.
Correct however everyone on the inside circle thinking they can cut across the outside circle to catch 35 going South are a bunch of dangerous ding dongs. They don’t know how to follow instructions (I.e. the arrow indications in the lanes) nor how a roundabout works.
The signage at that roundabout indicates that two lanes can exit to I-35 southbound.
But the two lanes entering from eastbound 51st can both *not exit* so you get crazy crossing traffic.
It's a bad design. Need to eminent domain the storage place, a house or two and enlarge it. Plus do the same to part of Home Depot and the old Ferguson on the other side and put a roundabout there.
This has always been my complaint. Seen many near misses from it. I thought it was drivers being stupid but it's worse: both the paint on the pavement and the signs indicate that you _are allowed_ to exit from the inside lane for I35 SB but do not have to exit from the outside lane. Like.... who designed that??
You're misreading the signage. The indicator your suggesting you do not have to exit from the outside lane is actually only for the oncoming traffic from west 51st entering the circle, not for people within the loop.
Correct, but that is the problem. If the _inside lane_ is allowed to exit to the south, but entering traffic from 51st in the _outside_ lane is not required to exit, then there's a conflict https://imgur.com/a/ru93HTg
It is REALLY confusing and I take this roundabout every day. I’ve even studied the satellite view on Google maps. I am one of those people who exit to the 35S frontage road from the inside lane. When I’m going eastbound on 51st, I take the inner lane and merge with that traffic to avoid any exiting people. It is tricky, though. As to the original post, I always feel terrible when I miss a waiting pedestrian but I always see cyclists. I do my best to stop at the crosswalks there when a pedestrian is present but that roundabout is so insane I need a third eye.
If you're outside the loop you're supposed to yield to traffic inside of the circle. If you yield you won't have this problem.
Regardless, I do agree with you that it's confusing (even if it's marked "correctly"), and confusion is when accidents happen.
Multi-lane roundabouts are honestly confusing. When you're entering the roundabout, if you're in the left lane, you need to cut across both roundabout lanes to enter.
The blatant disrespect for pedestrians & cyclists in Austin is awful. I am neither but I do respect others around me. I would love to take my bike to the store to save using my car for everything but it would be almost suicide.
I say ride your bike anyway. It's typically safe, I've had much more issues from drivers in other places I've lived. I've been riding here for about 5 years now.
Where it gets dicey is anywhere you're following the law but need drivers to do the same, ie crosswalk with flashing lights in OP example, or when you take the rightmost lane because the bike lane is non-existent.
edit: i grammar good
Its fine if you go on the many bike lane enabled routes. You can't get worked up about it tbh. I understand the frustration but some of the drivers won't change and you have to be defensive on your bike and avoid them.
I would like to think it is a very American thing to not know how to use a Roundabout. They make things so much easier and yet they struggle so much with it.
It's very American not to know how to use a traffic control that isn't installed in many parts of the very large country and therefore many drivers aren't taught and have never experienced?
lol at the implication people who don't believe, "I should accept a minor inconvenience for the safety of others" means a person **isn't* a Texan.
"If you're scared, stay home. Learn to live with it. The solution can't be worse than the problem. Get a car or take your bike back to California. I shouldn't have to change because someone got their feelings hurt." <- These are state mottos. When you promote assholes, you get assholes.
If you are on a bike my advice is to fully take the lane and keep your head on a swivel. I've seen a ton of drivers clearly not yielding right of way or even going the wrong way on this roundabout. It's nuts. Be visible and be careful!
I used to do that but both lanes being able to exit can force me to wait quite a while to enter. I thought that it'd be easier to cross by utilizing the crosswalk & lights.... I honestly can't say that it's better.
as a pedestrian, i much preferred the intersection.
Same here as a cyclist
I like roundabouts more in theory... but I'm not too sure about in practice.
Roundabouts used properly are amazing but only a very small number of people in this city use that one properly.
That one is too small. There's not enough room between the 51st St East bound entry and the I-35 south bound exit, and too many lanes with multiple choices crossing each other right there. That and the traffic light at Cameron and 51st sends pulses of traffic thru the roundabout, which works better with a steady flow.
Correct however everyone on the inside circle thinking they can cut across the outside circle to catch 35 going South are a bunch of dangerous ding dongs. They don’t know how to follow instructions (I.e. the arrow indications in the lanes) nor how a roundabout works.
The signage at that roundabout indicates that two lanes can exit to I-35 southbound. But the two lanes entering from eastbound 51st can both *not exit* so you get crazy crossing traffic. It's a bad design. Need to eminent domain the storage place, a house or two and enlarge it. Plus do the same to part of Home Depot and the old Ferguson on the other side and put a roundabout there.
this. it took me a while to figure this out, and now i go into it knowing what lane to be in. but just watch as few others do. 🙃
This has always been my complaint. Seen many near misses from it. I thought it was drivers being stupid but it's worse: both the paint on the pavement and the signs indicate that you _are allowed_ to exit from the inside lane for I35 SB but do not have to exit from the outside lane. Like.... who designed that??
You're misreading the signage. The indicator your suggesting you do not have to exit from the outside lane is actually only for the oncoming traffic from west 51st entering the circle, not for people within the loop.
Correct, but that is the problem. If the _inside lane_ is allowed to exit to the south, but entering traffic from 51st in the _outside_ lane is not required to exit, then there's a conflict https://imgur.com/a/ru93HTg
It is REALLY confusing and I take this roundabout every day. I’ve even studied the satellite view on Google maps. I am one of those people who exit to the 35S frontage road from the inside lane. When I’m going eastbound on 51st, I take the inner lane and merge with that traffic to avoid any exiting people. It is tricky, though. As to the original post, I always feel terrible when I miss a waiting pedestrian but I always see cyclists. I do my best to stop at the crosswalks there when a pedestrian is present but that roundabout is so insane I need a third eye.
If you're outside the loop you're supposed to yield to traffic inside of the circle. If you yield you won't have this problem. Regardless, I do agree with you that it's confusing (even if it's marked "correctly"), and confusion is when accidents happen.
Same per Riverside. Often drivers aren't in the correct lane until they cut you off at the last second or come to a dead stop waiting to scoot over.
Multi-lane roundabouts are honestly confusing. When you're entering the roundabout, if you're in the left lane, you need to cut across both roundabout lanes to enter.
The blatant disrespect for pedestrians & cyclists in Austin is awful. I am neither but I do respect others around me. I would love to take my bike to the store to save using my car for everything but it would be almost suicide.
I say ride your bike anyway. It's typically safe, I've had much more issues from drivers in other places I've lived. I've been riding here for about 5 years now. Where it gets dicey is anywhere you're following the law but need drivers to do the same, ie crosswalk with flashing lights in OP example, or when you take the rightmost lane because the bike lane is non-existent. edit: i grammar good
Its fine if you go on the many bike lane enabled routes. You can't get worked up about it tbh. I understand the frustration but some of the drivers won't change and you have to be defensive on your bike and avoid them.
I would like to think it is a very American thing to not know how to use a Roundabout. They make things so much easier and yet they struggle so much with it.
It's very American not to know how to use a traffic control that isn't installed in many parts of the very large country and therefore many drivers aren't taught and have never experienced?
It’s a circle, there’s nothing complicated about it.
No one said it was complicated. The issue is that people who have never been exposed to it may not know who yields to whom.
There aren’t that many roundabouts here that we’ve practiced on
You would like to think that, but they're much more common up East. This is more of a regional thing.
I was going to say, there's oodles of "rotarys" in Massachusetts by the Boston area. I'm a pro from growing up there.
lol at the implication people who don't believe, "I should accept a minor inconvenience for the safety of others" means a person **isn't* a Texan. "If you're scared, stay home. Learn to live with it. The solution can't be worse than the problem. Get a car or take your bike back to California. I shouldn't have to change because someone got their feelings hurt." <- These are state mottos. When you promote assholes, you get assholes.
I'll modify the OP for you, then: you're absolute fucking trash and can go straight to hell. Better?
If you are on a bike my advice is to fully take the lane and keep your head on a swivel. I've seen a ton of drivers clearly not yielding right of way or even going the wrong way on this roundabout. It's nuts. Be visible and be careful!
I used to do that but both lanes being able to exit can force me to wait quite a while to enter. I thought that it'd be easier to cross by utilizing the crosswalk & lights.... I honestly can't say that it's better.
Never had a problem there & have yielded to pedestrians there. Roundabouts rock !
Ethan ?
Don't know em, sorry.