Emory Village Roundabout Now Open
Decatur Metro | May 23, 2011 | 11:00 am
It ain’t pretty (yet!), but the Emory Village roundabout opened without fanfare on Friday.
Though the most of the brick-paver crosswalks are in, there’s still a ton of work to be done on many other elements of the roundabout plan. However, cars are now proceeding counterclockwise through the five-way intersection. I drove through it a couple times over the weekend, and while I’m sure it will take a while to get acclimated to it – and hopefully it will seem less chaotic when all the surrounding projects are complete – I certainly enjoyed my quick loop around from Oxford to North Decatur.
And I didn’t even have to wait 5 minutes to do it!
Hoping to hear some other initial impressions. Especially anyone who’s navigated it through rush-hour.
Checked it out on Saturday. Did multiple laps, just because I could. It was like urban planning porn.
So far, I’m a big fan of it. The stop lights at that intersection took forever! It’ll be interesting to see how it performs once school is back in, though. The few times I’ve been through it, it’s been a huge timesaver, both in the car and on the bike.
It’s been much more pleasant for running, despite the temporarily-sketchy sidewalks. Nice to be able to breeze through without too much waiting. Hope it stays pedestrian-friendly when the traffic picks up again!
That’s always kind of been the open question for me: We know roundabouts are better for cars, but how do they affect pedestrians? Certainly, more responsibility is placed upon the pedestrian to be aware of when it is clear to cross (as opposed to a walk/don’t walk signal, which of course does little to discourage jaywalking). This could be good or bad. As with cars, your wait will no doubt be shorter, but you also face a slightly elevated risk, I’d imagine.
Jaywalking was always rampant at that intersection. The walk/don’t walk signs were so conservative that many people did not wait for them. Ironically, I often found that people waited for the walk sign for just enough time before jaywalking that they frequently walked out in front of green-lit traffic.
My one observation from two passes through is that many people do not know the rules of a roundabout. People in the roundabout stop to yield to drivers waiting to enter.
From the GA DOT Roundabout FAQ (http://www.dot.ga.gov/travelingingeorgia/roundabouts/Pages/FAQs.aspx):
“A modern roundabout requires entering traffic to yield the right–of–way to traffic already in the roundabout. This keeps the traffic in the roundabout constantly moving and prevents much of the gridlock that plagues traffic circles and rotaries. “
They’re the same dangerously polite folks who stop at yellow blinking lights because they believe it’s nice to take turns regardless of the law.
Does anyone know how many millions was spent on this project?
At least initially, it was $2.1 million. I am going to take a wild guess and say it will go over-budget.
My husband hates it, he refuses to yield and wait for other cars, etc. He preferred the lights.
I hope it works bringing foot traffic as well as business to the Emory Village.
Don’t the vehicles already in the roundabout have the right of way??
You are correct. Vehicles in the roundabout always have the right of way. If you are in the roundabout, you should NOT be stopping to let someone else in. You might think you are being nice, but you are just slowing everything down. This is from someone who used to live in Massachusetts, where there are a ton (too many) of rotaries. Hopefully they will add some signs to help out the uninitiated.
So what’s the correct nomenclature:
– I grew up with “traffic circle”
– In Boston, they say “rotary” and there’s some free-wheelin’, high speed rotaries there! Kind of fun if you know what you are doing, not so fun otherwise. My favorite memory is being lost in a rotary-prone part of Boston and finally realizing I was hitting the same rotary over and over again. I was moving so fast, it took me a while to catch on!
– Now, the kosher term seems to be “roundabout”. Sounds kind of continental, heh?
Traffic circles (or rotaries in Massachusetts) are larger and the incoming traffic has the right of way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout
That’s the European standard. Generally speaking, in Europe, cars entering a roundabout have right of way. In the states, cars already in the circle have it.
>>My favorite memory is being lost in a rotary-prone part of Boston and finally realizing I was hitting the same rotary over and over again.<<
LOL! "Look kids, there's Big Ben!"
My husband and I tried to drive to Doc Chey’s on Friday night and after sitting in traffic on N. Decatur for what felt like forever, we gave up and did a U-turn to go somewhere else. I don’t know if the rotary was offically open at that point (around 8 PM) — there was a guy directing traffic somewhere in the distance ahead of us. This may have been a special circumstance because I could also see construction equipment moving around up there, but I hope the traffic is less horrible now that it’s fully operational.
As you can see, my young commenter, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL roundabout.
Can’t believe no one has made a Yes joke yet.
90125
I’ve seen all good people get close to the edge of the roundabout but it’s a shock to the system so they have to leave it…
Call it morning driving through the sound and in and out of emoryyyyy…
Oh, and it will look just like Paris!
“Generally speaking, in Europe, cars entering a roundabout have right of way. ”
Absolutely not true, at least in England. It is both illegal, and a massive discourtesy, to enter a roundabout in any manner that impedes a car already in the roundabout.
From Wiki:
“Roundabouts require entering drivers to give way to all traffic within the roundabout, regardless of lane position.”
Interesting. My experience was with Greece, where it’s definitely true. Must vary country to country.
My Swiss driving days were always yield to the left in circles. You enter when it’s safe because those in the circle had the right of way. This also extended to 4-way stops. Yield to the left as opposed to the right.
My experience in the States, the UK, France, and Italy is that cars in the roundabout have precedence. Cars trying to enter the roundabout must yield. Think of it as an entrance to the highway. Who gets precedence? The cars already on the highway, or the cars entering from a ramp?
Just happy I can get to my dry cleaner, CVS and Doc Chey without the battle of the last few months.
It’s much better now. The circle’s a bit tight but as long as people in the circle don’t stop, the flow should be pretty smooth. Unfortunately, there is always someone who doesn’t get it.
Tried the roundabout on Saturday. What used to take minutes now takes seconds. This improvement will be well worth the investment. Hopefully more will follow.
Here is some information about the budget, the park and roundabout driving rules from the Alliance to Improve Emory Village.
DeKalb County won an Atlanta Regional Commission LCI grant of $2.1 million for construction. The County provided a 20% match. The project is under budget. The project was bid in a down period for construction, and a good price was possible. Before construction began, DeKalb County took the opportunity to rebuild all of the original water lines that were installed in the early 1900’s. These lines needed replacement, but the cost wasn’t assigned to the LCI project. Additional non-government funding paid to remove the overhead utilities, and is helping to build the civic space adjacent the roundabout.
A commercial district originally emerged at Emory Village because it was the end of a trolley line. During demolition of the roadbed, some of the original trolley tracks were discovered. The Alliance to Improve Emory Village is attempting to salvage some of these tracks and incorporate them into a sculpture for the park. Fundraising for the park is on-going. If you’d like to contribute: http://www.emoryvillage.org
Drivers approaching the roundabout must slow down. Pedestrians in crosswalks always have the right-of-way. Pedestrians should make eye contact with drivers before entering the crosswalk. Vehicles entering the roundabout must yield to vehicles already in the roundabout. Drivers in the roundabout should use their turn signals. Experienced cyclists should enter the traffic flow. Bicycles are treated like cars in the roundabout. Less accomplished cyclists should dismount and use the pedestrian crosswalks.
Great info! Thanks DFox.
If it’s meant to address the inquiry on cost, I would have said, “Glossy info! Thanks.”