ROUNDABOUT THE ROUNDABOUT

Comment on this story by clicking here.


One of the unique THINGS about the place I call My Hometown, are these things called Roundabouts. Now this isn't a new idea. In fact I am sure they have been around for years, but not in Conway. About eighteen months ago, Conway made the decision to try and enhance the traffic flow by building roundabouts at certain intersections around the city.

If you're not familiar with a roundabout, then here's my best possible explanation. First picture a traditional intersection where two streets come together in a plus shape. Now, replace the plus with a circle. the same two streets intersect, but instead of stop signs or a stop light, now you just have yield signs where an oncoming car would yield to traffic that has already entered the circle. You enter from one of four entrances (where the two streets intersect) and exit on any one of the four entrances. All of the traffic goes counterclockwise. So, if you wanted to make what would be a traditional left turn, you have to drive around three quarters of the circle to get to the street you would like to exit onto. Simply put, that's why they are called, at least here, Roundabouts.

The fun thing about a roundabout is that you can stay in the roundabout and just never exit, making endless circles around and around and around and around if you so choose, theoretically tying up traffic even worse.

I must admit that in the beginning I truly believed placing Roundabouts at key intersections around town was one of the craziest ideas I had ever heard. How, I thought, was this going to enhance the traffic flow. I dreamed of being stuck at a yield sign for an hour waiting on traffic to clear enough from within the Roundabout to allow me to enter, only to quickly exit again.

Boy was I wrong. I can honestly admit that I believe the roundabouts have actually enhanced the traffic flow, speeding up drive time from point A to point B, making the drive much more pleasurable.

I have provided, for the sheer joy of it, a video demonstrating the traffic flow at a roundabout located next to Hendrix College at the intersection of Washington Ave, Tyler St and Winfield St.

This is a little over twenty minutes of video compacted into just a little over one minute. Man, how time flies. Enjoy.

To see a follow up video to this one, check out the MY HOMETOWN Group page on facebook. The follow up video is exclusive to the group page and won't be posted anywhere else. While there, join the group and become one of the neighbors in the place we call My Hometown.

To see the My Hometown Group page, just click RIGHT HERE.

Thanks for stopping by,
Chip