'New' Orléans may soon get a-Round to it

If the citizens of Orléans, a community in the eastern 'quartier' of Ottawa, are lucky, this typical suburban crash-waiting-to-happen intersection:

...will be replaced by this brilliant concept:

These are shots of the intersection of Jeanne d'Arc and St-Joseph in Orléans, before (above, as it is now) and after (below, as it could be as early as November this year, presuming the planned roundabout construction gets the go-ahead).

I'm sorry the plan faces north. while I was aiming south when I took the 'above' picture. You get the idea.

I'm also sorry I couldn't afford to rent a helicopter to get an overhead shot of the 'before' so you could see how truly screwed up it is.

But then, it is identical to virtually every major suburban intersection on this continent, so you already know how truly screwed up it is.

30 - 40 cars at rush hour, sometimes in each of the four directions, all idling away for several minutes per traffic light signal cycle, wasting gasoline and polluting the atmosphere, just waiting for the chance to play the who-will-crash-into-me-today? lottery that such intersections represent.

Or, if you happen upon this (or any) intersection at night, sitting there by yourself for what always seems like an eternity without another car in sight.

No fewer than fifteen sets of traffic lights, eight pedestrian crossing signals and several pedestrian crossing push-buttons, all hugely expensive to buy, operate and maintain, are all apparently necessary to create even a modicum of order out of this chaos.

In its place will be a roundabout which, as regular readers already know, is the most advanced traffic management concept ever invented.

The Orléans project began as a 'street-scaping' project, designed to make this, one of four major entreés into the community, look more welcoming. Town planners realized that there was room for a proper roundabout, plans were made, council approval obtained, tenders called for and won - and much of it will even be paid for by the federal government under the 'stimulus infrastructure' program.

The current intersection is rated a 'D' on the town planners' traffic flow rating scale, and would need an extra lane added in each direction to get it up to a 'B'; as a roundabout it goes all the way to 'A', and growth projections indicate nothing more will need to be done to it for another 20 years.

And, it's largely paid for by the feds!

How many 'wins' in a row is that?

Interestingly, surprisingly - shockingly even - there are people in Orléans who don't want better safety, reduced fuel consumption, reduced emissions, and vastly improved traffic flow. They are opposed to this project.

They primarily cite concerns about safety.

True, there is a period of acclimatization.

But the British and French have these everywhere; are the critics saying Canadians aren't smart enough to figure this out?

I suspect most of the resistance stems simply from a reluctance to accept change.

I get that. I'm small-c conservative myself.

But everywhere roundabouts are installed - yes, even in Canada - traffic crashes drop precipitously, both in frequency and in severity.

After all, the most dangerous type of crash is a head-on, followed by a tee-bone. Both are effectively impossible in a roundabout - the worst that can happen is a side-swipe.

Pedestrians and cyclists only have to worry about traffic coming in one direction at a time, so they too are safer. My cyclist friends go on and on about how safe and efficient their chosen mode of transport is; cycling is vastly more popular in Europe where roundabouts, er, abound, so that can hardly be a problem.

Truckers? The ones I've talked to have no problem with roundabouts, provided they are large enough to accommodate their big rigs (which this one is). The toughest thing for a trucker is to accelerate from rest, and run up through all 13 / 18 / however many gears, wasting time and fuel, and slowing other traffic. If they can navigate through a roundabout at even a slow speed, as opposed to having to come to a complete stop, it improves their efficiency even more than for cars.

Some critics claim local businesses are opposed to this roundabout. But members of the 'Heart of Orléans' BIA (Business Improvement Area) I spoke with said the four businesses most affected - those at each corner of the current intersection - are fine with it. One of the two ramps at each gas station currently do not meet code anyway, tossing vehicles out into the flow of traffic which is moving too quickly for safety.

And one of the advantages of roundabouts is that it makes U-turns a snap - you just keep circling around until you get to where you want to go. This means you have easier access to businesses on both sides of the street, and what company would not want to improve its 'drive-by' business opportunities?

Once you really understand how well these things work, you become a zealot - as one Ottawa councillor who had initially opposed the Orléans proposal did.

One of the best analyses of roundabouts I've seen comes from our near-by neighbour, the Region of Waterloo, which has installed many of them over the past few years.

Visit: www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/roundabout_index2.html for more details on their successes.

So, Orléans-ians, count your blessings.

And wish those of us who 'get it' here in the GTA the same kind of luck you're about to enjoy.

There are tentative steps in Toronto itself, and a local councillor told me a few days ago that even Milton is being dragged into the 20th century of traffic management.

(Note to Milton Town Planners - that century ended 10 years ago; could you pick up the pace a little, please?)

Comments

[Emro]

Jim, have you heard about the roundabout being constructed here in London? Check out page 4 of this pdf if you haven't: http://www.london.ca/Road_Construction/pdfs/RoadInsert_web.pdf

[Reg]

I would be interested in the long term accident rate. I remember reading an article where it was noted that whenever improvements or changes are made to a road, the accident rate drops significantly until people become used to the changes, and then the accident rate goes back up. A total change like this would also reduce the traffic volume as people who don't like it will find alternate routes, also reducing the number of accidents. I like the idea of reducing head on and t-bone accidents. There might be some energy efficiency with people not stopping, but everyone will (should) slow down and have to accelerate again.

[Brian]

I have to go through a roundabout every day (Ancaster, Wilson St. south of 403) and I find its great. The only time it gets confusing is the people who drive "across" from the side streets. The traffic on the main street sometimes gets surprised by this.

I don't know if this is a good idea or a bad one, but if I'm in the lane that has the choice of exiting or continuing in the roundabout, I try to signal my intent so the approaching traffic knows if I am exiting so they don't have to stop.

[RP]

I went on a trip to England back in 2007 and I saw first hand how roundabouts are safer than stop lights. They really do keep traffic moving and it all flows in the same direction. The only hard part is on larger ones is crossing lanes, but its not a big deal, if you don't get across the first time, just keep going until you do :)

[Luke Ventura]

But Jim, I thought that Europe was Europe and Canada is Canada and we can't possibly ever learn from them.

[C2100]

I'm all for roundabouts.

I first encountered them in Edmonton over 40 years ago, then on my first visit to England in 1977.

New Zealand has adopted them both single and double lanes and Australia in some areas and wonder of wonders here in BC recently.

They are great, especially in the single lane variety, double lanes can get a little hairy particularly during heavy traffic. NZ farmers with their Holdens, Falcons and big Japanese SUVs towing trailers can complicate things.

Idling vehicles have to be big wasters of fuel. The more roundabouts the better.

The best thing that's happened in our neighborhood has been the installation of speed humps. The first evening most drivers ignored the speed hump sign and literally took off landing with scraping noises and slowing down for the 2nd of the 2 humps.

The next morning the reflective strips were attached and most drivers were below the speed limit instead of well over it. Over a 30 minute period I observed all sorts of poor suspension in action including Mercedes and BMW. The only vehicle that didn't slow down and showed no signs of distress was a Ford Excursion!

It was like certain stages of a WRC rally. Yes I attended the Olympus Rally in Washington State back in the 80s for 2 years in a row.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/d70w7/4844323494/

[Jim McCarey]

Hi Jim, we have a roundabout on hwy 2 just west of Odessa and it works very well. I haven't heard any complaints as yet, it was put in last summer. There is also a new one in Picton, same applies.

I lived and drove in Europe years ago and could not figure out why North Americans which includes Canadians did not use roundabouts. At around a buck a litre for fuel, why use it up at a stop light when you could be cruising along through the crossroad.

Keep up the good work,

Jim McCarey

[Larry]

Yay. It shouldn't just be Rosedale that gets nice roundabouts.