The modern roundabout- transition from rural to urban environment ?

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT:Historically, the transition from rural routes, with typically high speeds, to urban routes with speeds of up to half of the latter, has resulted in excessive speeding in such, as well as the corresponding high accident rates. The purpose of this paper is to present the applicability of modern roundabouts to manage these transitions, possible enhancements and the perceptions of road users. On the R60 approaching Robertson from Ashton, a modern roundabout was constructed in 2003. The roundabout was identified as a measure to control the rural/urban transition and contribute to controlling speeds through the town thus improving safety. This paper determines whether the objective for the construction of the roundabout has been achieved. A post-implementation review was embarked upon to establish if the holistic design application was appropriate. Further what, if any, additional measures could be implemented to improve operation. Interviews have been undertaken with responsible authorities and road users, both regular and incidental, to determine their perceptions. The paper concludes with recommendations regarding the suitability of modern roundabouts as a measure to manage the transition between the rural and urban environment, possible design improvements and present the road-user’s perceptions.