http://www.wral.com/innovative-diamond-highway-interchanges-coming-to-nc/12920593/

"Roundabouts", "Diamond Interchanges", "Four-Way-Stops". SURELY there are some engineers left who still have some common sense. "New" does NOT necessarily been "better."

looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Somebody must have been extremely drunk when they approved this plan. Head-on collisions will sky-rocket. Now, make sure you tell your family you love them before you get onto one of those roads. Statistically, someone reading this will die because of this ridiculous plan. Way to go NC!!!

9/25/2013 8:18:49 AM

what statistics?

9/25/2013 8:30:23 AM

yowilly is trolling

but it is exciting news, hopefully they continue this progressive thinking and tell the pearl clutchers to deal with it

9/25/2013 8:57:11 AM

The trolling is strong with this guy.

I will admit I needed to see an animation of the interchange in action to understand it, but after watching the traffic flow I'm excited to see one in our area.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 9:02 AM. Reason : .]

9/25/2013 9:02:46 AM

9/25/2013 9:10:00 AM

DDIs are awesome. Of course morons and hillbillies like A are against any change since they don't possess the skills to learn something new. Ala roundabouts. Always having to dumb down things for the lowest common denominator.

9/25/2013 9:20:33 AM

One time I drove this tiny little Renault through the "magic roundabout" in Swindon. I was going too fast and my American brain hadn't yet fully grasped the sign I had seen. It was like being sucked into a micro-car tornado. All of my passengers were yelling instructions from the back seat. Chaos!

We drive bigger cars at higher speeds in the US. Leave that shit in Europe, please.

9/25/2013 9:35:58 AM

go back to europe please

9/25/2013 9:36:24 AM

^^not our fault you're a shitty driver.

I love the roundabout on H'boro. Loved it a lot more when it had 2 lanes though. Fuck the simpletons among us

Looking forward to this new interchange.

Quote :

"engineers are also considering building one in Raleigh, on South Saunders Street at Interstate 40, as part of the big “Crawleigh” rebuild project."

Hell yes, that intersection blows!

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 10:31 AM. Reason : ]

9/25/2013 10:27:43 AM

I've driven on one before. My understanding is that they do improve traffic flow considerably and actually cause a decrease in vehicular collision rates. This pretty much sums up my problem with them, though: http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2011/11/7/the-diverging-diamond.html

Not a big deal if they are being built in the middle of rural nowhere, but is there really any point to building them there?

9/25/2013 10:28:00 AM

"further proof that the engineering profession has failed us"


-how is it more terrifying crossing this than any other busy intersection for a blind pedestrian.
-he is hung up on using a red brick finish on the island which is a silly thing to object to
-he has a problem with a 13 second pedestrian crossing for two lanes, but a regular intersection is not magically any faster to cross. it is safer to cross only two lanes while only needing to look in one direction than crossing multiple lanes with traffic in multiple direction and people always turning left or right across the pedestrian crossing. his objection is silly and wrong.
-he has a problem with led lighting? why?
-he has a problem with designing for pedestrians and cycling
-a driver that doesn't stop at the solid bar and instead rolls into the pedestrian area? OH NO! Because that never happens in any other intersection


his objections are all dumb, he has a problem that the intersection takes pedestrian and cycling into account into an area that is otherwise not designed for them. but that's silly, because you have to start at some point and let other areas make those changes over time.

its sad that this guy is a PE and certified planner

9/25/2013 10:40:17 AM

^^^ the main thoroughfare in Doha, Qatar has nothing but roundabouts, and they're all 3 lanes.

9/25/2013 10:45:29 AM

What does that have to do with my post?

9/25/2013 10:47:34 AM

On the other hand, we live in a country where, across the land, nobody can figure out the concept of the "passing lane", and to stay the fuck out of it unless you're, you know, passing.

^ that it's bad when dumbasses can't negotiate a simple 2-lane roundabout, when there's a city where every intersection on the main road is a 3 lane roundabout.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 10:50 AM. Reason : ]

9/25/2013 10:48:56 AM

some states are pretty good at following the passing lane rule

9/25/2013 10:50:49 AM

I've encountered, and lived to tell the tale, of a giant 3 lane traffic roundabout in Somerville, NJ. Was only 18 at the time too. People just need to stop sucking at life at driving.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 10:55 AM. Reason : e]

9/25/2013 10:55:06 AM

The Somerville Circle? I don't live too far from there. It's actually a traffic circle, though, if that's the one you are referring to. It also has like 300 accidents a year haha.

9/25/2013 11:01:08 AM

yeah that one! haha. So it's called a circle if it's bigger? Semantics.

300 accidents a year is probably pretty good given the traffic volume. Minor accidents too.

9/25/2013 11:08:56 AM

no, traffic circles function differently and are very different. its not semantics.

9/25/2013 11:11:41 AM

where i live we have several 3-lane massive roundabouts (100-200 ft in diameter, giant sculptures on them), and no one knows how to use them. i don't know what the rules are in other parts of the world, but here, the rule is "those in the roundabout have right of way". the thing is, the amount of traffic is so much that the rule is pretty much worthless, and also the fact that no one knows how to drive properly in a straight line, let alone in a roundabout.

to make things smoother, they put 4 set of traffic lights at most of the roundabouts. still didn't solve the massive congestion problem, so now they have taken most of them out and replaced them underpasses and overpasses so that traffic can keep moving nonstop.

you don't want to miss these pics:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jeddah+roundabouts&site=imghp&tbm=isch

9/25/2013 11:13:08 AM

sounds like you may be talking about a traffic circle too since they have traffic lights at each road

9/25/2013 11:14:56 AM

Quote :

"no, traffic circles function differently and are very different. its not semantics."

Aha. Guess I had forgotten that the Somerville Circle has lights.

9/25/2013 11:19:30 AM

yeah now they do, but for years they didn't. they put the lights to reduce accidents.

9/25/2013 11:20:09 AM

I like this idea. It looks like it will work better and I think the S Saunders intersection is just about a perfect location for one. Lots of bikes and a decent number of pedestrians through there and that trend will only continue to grow in the future. The only issue I have with it would be when people run red lights because that could easily result in a fatality. Red light cameras on these things would be one of the few times I would support their use.

And I think any intersection which involves an interstate is going to have to take vehicles as its #1 priority. There's no way around that and including pedestrian and bike-friendly elements still represent progress.

And whoever's idea it was to put lots of interesting things to look at on a road design that requires lots of driver focus is a fucking idiot.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 11:22 AM. Reason : ]

9/25/2013 11:21:31 AM

^^a traffic light is not the only difference between a roundabout and traffic circle, it sounds like you have traffic circles. post an aerial image or link in google maps.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 11:22 AM. Reason : .]

9/25/2013 11:21:43 AM

i don't feel like reading about these diamond interchanges, so i'm just going to assume they work like this:

9/25/2013 11:26:12 AM

9/25/2013 11:33:52 AM

A what the hell do you know about this topic dude? You have 0 credability!

9/25/2013 11:34:28 AM

Quote :

"^^a traffic light is not the only difference between a roundabout and traffic circle, it sounds like you have traffic circles. post an aerial image or link in google maps."

here are coordinates of a few, all with lights unless otherwise indicated. (they all used to be without lights until relatively recently)

21.664787, 39.110811
21.597522, 39.144241 w/out
21.584409, 39.176972
21.568036, 39.182899
21.610854, 39.141108
21.549217, 39.148878 w/out
21.548479, 39.14323 w/out
21.546892, 39.127817

thanks.

9/25/2013 11:50:13 AM

Life is a highway

9/25/2013 11:55:40 AM

strongtowns guy is a bigger moron than A.

9/25/2013 1:22:13 PM

mind = blown



[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 1:26 PM. Reason : just n00bed all over myself]

9/25/2013 1:25:53 PM

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 1:26 PM. Reason : nevermind, its working now]

9/25/2013 1:26:33 PM

we have one just up the road from my house and it works well - ashford dunwoody exit on 285 in atlanta

9/25/2013 1:58:13 PM

I see there are some fellow planners/transportation engineers up in here

9/25/2013 2:12:05 PM

Quote :

"21.664787, 39.110811 21.597522, 39.144241 w/out 21.584409, 39.176972 21.568036, 39.182899 21.610854, 39.141108 21.549217, 39.148878 w/out 21.548479, 39.14323 w/out 21.546892, 39.127817"

Off topic and probably pointless, but I was surprised to see a Fudruckers on the corner of the intersection at the first set of coordinates.

9/25/2013 2:30:34 PM

haha, it is actually inside the massive mall which is right there next to the roundabout!

9/25/2013 2:34:16 PM

seriously? you peole actually want fucked up hipster engineering? look at how the traffic circle worked on hillsboro street... it actually has SLOWED DOWN the traffic and made it HARDER to drive down the damn road.

9/25/2013 7:51:38 PM

this is just not a good idea.

9/25/2013 8:22:09 PM

looks cool to me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xssz-Q5ve7Q

9/25/2013 8:28:06 PM

Just look at the accidents that double roundabout on Hillsborough caused....

This is not smart.

9/25/2013 8:32:06 PM

Quote :

"Just look at the accidents that double roundabout on Hillsborough caused...."

That's why it's a single now, and it works great. You must be trolling, like the know nothing OP.

9/25/2013 9:35:14 PM

something like this would be awesome at the intersection of 440 and wake forest road.

9/25/2013 9:37:12 PM

Can somebody explain why this ends up saving people time? I'm not trying to dispute that it does, obviously people that know a shit ton more about it than I do have done lots of research about it, but I can't figure out where the time is saved. You still have to have lights set up at both ends where they criss cross, right? Wouldn't that be roughly as much of a time suck as having to stop traffic to turn left onto the highway?

9/25/2013 9:38:21 PM

there are less light cycles... reduced down to essentially two... either one side is green or the other direction. a normal light would have to include a left turn cycle (for each direction, which often times can't occur simultaneously) which last even longer because it takes longer for cars to turn left. This makes turning left something done without having to cross lanes of traffic.

[Edited on September 25, 2013 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ]

9/25/2013 9:42:36 PM

9/25/2013 10:41:18 PM

lol

btw im not A

9/25/2013 10:48:49 PM

^^ lol

9/25/2013 11:33:11 PM

Lololol

9/26/2013 7:42:46 AM

Quote :

"seriously? you peole actually want fucked up hipster engineering? look at how the traffic circle worked on hillsboro street... it actually has SLOWED DOWN the traffic and made it HARDER to drive down the damn road."

Ignoring for a moment that the whole renovation of Hillsborough Street was intended to slow down traffic...That roundabout works wonderfully. I always get through that intersection much faster than before, literally almost every time.

9/26/2013 9:01:48 AM