Learning Point 423 | Dutch Style Roundabouts Incoming

I like that the crossings are a couple of car lengths from the roundabout, making them a separate event from exiting the roundabout.

Dutch driver here. (Married to a Limey, so I know both countries' roads). What you cannot see clearly in this video is that the separate cycle path often has a sharp turn just before it crosses the road.  That is intentionally done to stop the cyclists from zooming across the roundabout. By setting up the architecture so that it both separates the traffic streams and slows them down, it makes for a clear roundabout. Which is a lot safer!

That moped on the Dutch roundabout is a 'blue plate' 25kph max speed 'Snorfiets'. Historically, they were allowed on all cycle lanes, including this one. I think it's one of the reasons the Dutch infrastructure is so good, as it had to accommodate faster vehicles like this and meant even those who didn't want to cycle could also utilise the infrastructure. Low speed mopeds were quite common on the continent, the equivalent of e-bikes today perhaps, but a rarer sight in the UK. The French have the 'VeloSolex', where the front wheel is driven by a motor running on the tyre, the Dutch built Sachs Spartamet used a motor driving the rear hub. These Dutch style roundabouts have the potential to improve the safety of cyclists navigating such junctions, but there will be a learning curve for drivers unfamiliar with the layout.

Looks like one of the few occasions when Road improvement planers actually design something that is an improvement.

since so many drivers are unable to keep to their lane on multi-lane roundabouts, I don't really see them as an advantage any more. This looks a lot safer for everyone.

Clearly defined crossing areas, no confusion over whether traffic should stop or not for bikes or pedestrians. This is what can be done if you have the room on the roads to build it.

Hah! I use that roundabout when I'm teaching so I'm primed with first-hand knowledge of how this roundabout goes. Firstly, the decision to reduce it to a single lane makes things flow nicer. My learners can better get to grips with how the roundabout works by only having to concentrate on one lane at a time. The area with the bollards protecting the cycle lane is rather necessary as the traffic backs up that entire road during rush hour, but the benefit is that it's easier for those coming from the lesser used exits to get onto the roundabout and not be sat there all evening waiting for a gap. There's a speed bump just before the zebra crossing which forces people to slow right down, preventing people from racing onto the roundabout. The only downside are the people who turn off the roundabout without indicating left! The space between cars means that if someone is indicating left, you're basically guaranteed a gap to get out of. Honestly, one of the best roundabout designs around.

I guess it works on less congested roundabouts but I think at busy times there would be a long tail-back of traffic on the single lane approach. One good point to note though is it would prevent drivers either through ignorance or arrogance from barging across lanes just to get in front.

All those nice zebra crossings make life so much easier for everyone, not least for motorists to spot them from even a couple of cars behind, so there's no surprise factor when someone stops for a crossing pedestrian or cyclist.

There's a dutch roundabout in Cambridge which ended up costing almost 3x the original budget and has had roughly no effect on number of incidents involving cyclists or pedestrians The number of incidents has actually increased but probably only because the number of pedestrians and cyclists using the roundabout has also increased by roughly the same amount

Nice to see some of my footage , Ashley! I always watch your content about roundabouts with interest, because I indeed see much difference between those in the UK and those here in The Netherlands. This was a single lane roundabout in a smaller village. We also have multi lane roundabouts that present the same problems as I often hear you talking about, like bad lane discipline, no or wrong usage of indicators, and so on. But what we also have more and more often in The Netherlands are the so called "turbo roundabouts", where multi lanes are separated by low "speedbump like" barriers, not only forcing vehicles to keep their own lanes but also making clear where they are going when they approach or are on the roundabout. I would be happy to collect some more video material of different Dutch roundabouts for you to show how traffic flow is managed in different situations. Keep up your great work!

The issue isn’t innovation it’s whether it’s appropriate for the location and built properly. Look at the trouble that some low traffic neighbourhoods have caused. LTNs aren’t a bad idea, but they were installed carelessly, with little consultation and when problems arose the local authorities clammed up and refused to address the issues. The Streatham LTN was a prime example of this. If “Dutch-style” roundabouts are installed in the right places, with adequate traffic analysis and, importantly, built to the full specification and not just half-arsed, then I struggle to think why anyone would have an issue. The trouble is, local authorities (and TfL) are forever trying to cut corners when it comes to the roads.

I live in Cambridge and we have had one for awhile and they are now updating others to be dutch too. People complain about them but they are easy if you drive at an appropriate speed. When I was learning my instructor made sure to take me multiple times for practice

There is one in Cambridge, joining Queen Edith's Way to the road leading to Addenbrookes and 2 other roads. I bike on it every day and nearly every day I at least nearly get ran over twice. Some cars don't even bother to look before exiting as the cars are supposed to give way to pedestrians and cyclists. And when they do nearly run me over they look at me as if I'm the one in the wrong, it even clearly states on sign before entering the roundabout - 'GIVE WAY TO CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS' - riding round these are quite the scary thing.

There's one in Cambridge that I've driven on a few times. It does keep you on your toes- it feels like there's a lot of information to process when you approach, as in "check this bit, now this bit, now look for cars", then coming off it, "check this bit, now this bit, ok go!"

I think it's an excellent idea as long as the roads aren't that busy

It's going to be interesting to see how these work when congestion is backing up all the way to the roundabout. Ideally, it should be kept clear if you cannot get past it completely, but I suspect with just one lane going around, and people driving as they drive, this will just lead to longer and longer single lane queues that end up blocking more junctions along the path

I negotiated the Cambridge one for the first time a few months age and many more times since then in my job as a delivery driver. The markings are clear and I’ve never found it confusing, the surface of the cycle lane is a different colour to the road which helps I think. You do see drivers straddling the cycle lane while queueing to enter the roundabout though.

This roundabout is in the borough of North Tyneside which covers the eastern part of Newcastle up to the coast. It's a relatively recent transformation, and uncharacteristic of a council which hasn't done much overall for cycling (what's shown in this video represents every metre of on-road dedicated cycleways in the entire borough). Unfortunately the local Tory party has responded by converting themselves into basically a single issue party on turning it back into the multi-lane blackspot it was previously, which has basically guaranteed there'll be no more progress on cycling for years to come.

Great idea. Would need to be heavily publicised to get it the idea in most of the publics heads (based on how few appear to understand the priorities at junctions where people are looking to cross) but I agree, I don’t think this would impede flow at all 👍🏻