Roundabout confusion.

Anonymous

Hi.

I am going to take a trip up to the pennines tommorow, Huddersfield if the snow does not block me, but if I have to turn back there is some confusing roundabouts, roundabouts confuse me.

I know the normal one, but this one is abit of a confusing one.

I have took a screenprint of it and drawn lines with a faint yellow highlight on it, if I was coming from either way, would the faint lines I drawn be the correct lines I would take?



Thanks
Will.

Red Rock

It would be easier if you'd just drawn yellow lines for where you actually intend riding. I mean you can't be coming on and leaving the roundabout at every junction - can you :?

Keep in the lane as indicated on the road for the route you're taking and you should be fine.

It looks as if the roundabout has traffic light, which should mean you don't have to worry about traffic entering from your left. Oh, and indicate right as you enter the roundabout, so you don't get anyone trying to come round you and cutting you up.

I'm guessing this is your route:



Hope this helps.

Red Rock

Anonymous

I intend on going from the road in the top left to the one in the top right, that's simple enough, but on the way back I intend on coming from the road in the top right and entering the road on the top left.

nwallace

Top Right to Top left:

Enter using lane 2 signalling right,,
At first stop line, lane 2, make it obvious you intend on holding your lane
At 2nd stop line you will be in lane 1 signal left
Follow lanes to exit in lane 1

Red Rock

This is how I'd do it.

Try and keep with the traffic and don't get to close to anything.

I'd feel better if someone else agreed with this

Red Rock

Red Rock

Opps, forgot to say follow the orange lines :roll:

softlad

take the bus.

danseur

Pretend that you are in a car. Get in the primary position and take the lane to prevent anyone else cutting you up. Ride quickly and assertively giving clear signals so that other road users know when you will be changing lanes or leaving the roundabout.

Anonymous

softlad wrote:

take the bus.

:roll:

danseur wrote:

Pretend that you are in a car. Get in the primary position and take the lane to prevent anyone else cutting you up. Ride quickly and assertively giving clear signals so that other road users know when you will be changing lanes or leaving the roundabout.

Cars are too fast though and if I go in front of them slowing em down they wont be too happy!

Red Rock wrote:

Opps, forgot to say follow the orange lines :roll:

Thanks, that is quite clear I think I know how to get round there now , I'll only come back that way if the roads are a no go around denshaw though.

redddraggon

willhub wrote:

danseur wrote:

Pretend that you are in a car. Get in the primary position and take the lane to prevent anyone else cutting you up. Ride quickly and assertively giving clear signals so that other road users know when you will be changing lanes or leaving the roundabout.

Cars are too fast though and if I go in front of them slowing em down they wont be too happy!

Fcuk 'em, they can wait.

Mister W

Absolutely, ride in a strong position in the lane and make the cars wait. If you give them space to squeeze past you they will and you stand a fair chance of getting hit. Make it clear to the cars behind where you're going by using clear hand signals in plenty of time.

softlad

willhub wrote:

Cars are too fast though and if I go in front of them slowing em down they wont be too happy!

they'll get over it - and you will still be alive.

fizz

Looks like to me theres a subway or a pathway underneath the roundabout, why not take that if its possible then you wont have to fight for road space with the cars...

fuzzynavel

Please tell me that you don't have a driving license!! :shock:

Anonymous

fuzzynavel wrote:

Please tell me that you don't have a driving license!! :shock:

No, if I did I would not have had to ask this question.

whyamihere

Pretty dangerous for you to be out on the road at all if you can't work out an island that simple...

Anonymous

whyamihere wrote:

Pretty dangerous for you to be out on the road at all if you can't work out an island that simple...

What rubbish.

I've never encountered a roundabout like that before. And if you look at the OP you'll see I did correctly work it out so don't know why you bothered with your post, I just wanted to be sure I was correct. Cycle proficiency don't do roundabouts like that.

redddraggon

willhub wrote:

whyamihere wrote:

Pretty dangerous for you to be out on the road at all if you can't work out an island that simple...

What rubbish.

I've never encountered a roundabout like that before. And if you look at the OP you'll see I did correctly work it out so don't know why you bothered with your post, I just wanted to be sure I was correct. Cycle proficiency don't do roundabouts like that.

I've got agree with Will, that is not a simple roundabout. There is nothing like that where I'm from - I'd probably be able to work out how to navigate it on the fly, but I'm not Will and I reckon it's one of the more sensible questions Will has asked on here

whyamihere

Apologies in that case. It looked rather simple to me, but then again I do ride islands such as this and this with ease...

Anonymous

I'd plot a route to avoid them, the only way I'd do them is if I was on a club run and they did one, then I'd remember and be able to do it myself.

I'm usually ok with the normal ones when I arrive at them, they look much easier when you are actually there, I had abit of problems with one today mainly because I was blinded by the sun and there was a crap load of snow covering where I could have gone.

andy_wrx

I know Oldham Mumps r'about, used to live in Oldham 15 years ago.

It's one of those r'abouts that whoever designed should be forced to drive round for 3 months non-stop, just to show them that it's a bloody awful design.
I guess the road designers had 4 major roads converging/crossing and a limited space to build a junction, so they came up with this - a 'gyratory'.

The place to be especially careful of is the bottom of your picture.
The road at the 4-o'clock position has traffic trying to get onto the r'about so it can go round it and turn off at the 10-o'clock or 1-o'clock positions....
...which is crossing the path of traffic on the r'about and trying to get off at the exit at 6 o'clock...
...which as well as crossing the traffic coming onto the r'about from the 4-o'clock has also to merge into the traffic coming from the 4-o'clock position and going to the 6-o'clock position without going onto the r'about at all - this traffic just puts its foot down as the 6-o'clock leads to a dual-carriageway expressway with a 50 or so speed limit (and no cycling signs).

And all of these are two lanes...

It's err, interesting, at rush hour. I've seen several cruches there as you're trying to look in about three directions at once and cope with traffic doing different speeds.

At quiet times however, the risk is different in that there will be light traffic but some of them will be pillocks driving BMW 3-series with blacked-out windows and loud sound systems who think they're in a video game...

If you are going 10-o'clock to 1-o'clock then yes it should be simple enough, just find yourself a nice gap in the traffic on the r'about and slot in. Traffic will pass you on your right, the lanes are wide enough no problem.
Just be careful because once off the r'about, just out of picture, there's a left turn used as a rat run (Brook St), so be careful no idiot turns left across you (if they do, Seaton, manufacturers of tubigrib bandages are just up there, which will be handy...)

If you are going 1-o'clock to 10-o'clock then again pull out onto the r'about in a nice gap with no traffic coming around the r'about which looks like it'll be turning off at the 4-o'clock.
Get in a really positive position in that lefthand lane.
Be aware that traffic from behind you will be pulling off at the 6-o'clock exit - you haven't got eyes in the back of your head so you can't see them coming and it should be up to them to avoid you rather than your problem to get out of your way, but it will be better to be positive and obvious in that lefthand lane so that they see you and decide to turn-off behind you and pass you on your left, rather than you be dithering about so they decide to pass you on your right and then cut-off across the front of you, or simply drive through you....
And be aware that traffic from your left will be coming-on at the 4-o'clock entry and some will be passing you fast on your left as they go straight to the 6-o'clock exit, whilst some will be pulling-out onto the r'about with you - again, not up to you to get out of their way, up to them to avoid you, but the more positive and obvious you are the greater the chances of them seeing you and avoiding you rather than 'sorry mate, didn't see you'.

I'm not surprised you're asking advice to be honest.
This r'about is dangerous enough in a car, where there is a fairly high risk of a minor panel-bending crunch : speeds are not generally high enough for even a t-bone collision to kill anyone.
On a bike however, the outcome of someone driving into you is rather nastier...

You could use the subway, as someone suggested - but I wouldn't do that after dark !

You could turn left off Huddersfield Rd at the set of lights immediately before the junction, then right at the next lights - probably only 200/300 yds extra - and you'd be on that road from 4-o'clock (A669 Lees Rd), but then you have to enter the r'about in the r-hand lane as the l-hand is going straight off at the 6-o'clock, and you'd have to pull out onto the r'about across the traffic coming off it...no don't like that either.

Personally, whilst I've driven round this roundabout lots of times, I've never cycled it !
I used to come down that rat run Brook St, along the pavement from top right to top left, out onto Yorkshire St - much safer !

nwallace

willhub wrote:

whyamihere wrote:

Pretty dangerous for you to be out on the road at all if you can't work out an island that simple...

What rubbish.

I've never encountered a roundabout like that before. And if you look at the OP you'll see I did correctly work it out so don't know why you bothered with your post, I just wanted to be sure I was correct. Cycle proficiency don't do roundabouts like that.

IIRC Neither does the Driving Theory test nor the practical test unless there is one conveniently on route.

If those lights are permanent then technically it's a set of junctions and not a roundabout.

However with ignorance of the traffic flows there, it does look like a rather simple set of junctions, that shouldn't strike fear into anyone that's used to doing roundabouts or lane changes between closely spaced lights.

red rock wrote:

I'd feel better if someone else agreed with this

I think you've drawn what I tried to describe.

pneumatic

Anyone ever tried to cycle around the one in Hemel Hempstead?

six mini roundabouts arranged in a circle, so you can go around either way.

I now have to do that one every fortnight in a car as a visitor to the town. the only thing that makes it work seems to be that everyone on it is sh1tting themselves so takes extra care!

nwallace

As tame as this one looks on the map

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=yettes ... 20FK14%207

It still confuses me when I drive through it, no longer in how to use it but in how anyone came up with the design.

Unfortuantely there is no Aerial view out in these sticks.

East Lane is One - Way heading South, West Lane is One - Way heading North

3 different connections between the 2 lanes.

Why it wasn't just kept as a cross roads you really have to wonder.

Woodenleg

Not sure what the role of a moderator is on this forum, but I'm sure WHYAMIHERE could have been a bit more supportive of one asking for advice. Best advice given here in my opinion is check behind, signal and adopt the primary position (ie where the car driver would be sat for the same route) on the approach, hold this line but then signal and change lane as appropriate for your exit, and be assertive until clear of the junction, then return to the kerb to allow the patient (or otherwise) motorists to pass. 360 degree vision and 20/20 hindsight helps. Live long and prosper!

Mister W

I've cycled with a group round the one in Hemel Hempstead. Amazingly we all made it off at the right junction, although I think the "take up the whole lane" option was used to good effect..

dag_on_a_bike

I used to ride the magic roundabout in Swindon when I lived there. Now that is interesting.

When I worked as a PI lawyer pursuing RTA type claims, we had the official streetworks map showing its layout as no-one could ever get it right.

Just glad I moved away.

NWLondoner

Red Rock wrote:

This is how I'd do it.

Try and keep with the traffic and don't get to close to anything.

I'd feel better if someone else agreed with this

Red Rock

thats the route i'd take as well.

I'd make sure i was taking a tight primary position before passing the turning on the bottom left as to stop some idiot from overtaking then trying to cut across me to make the exit.

Anonymous

I presume allot of people who can actually drive cars would get the roundabout wrong in the image too, allot of car drivers don't know it's legal to ride 2 abreast, on Sunday we was on this quiet straight wide road, well busyish, but not unsafe, and this guy came up matching out speed, passenger opening window and was like "FOR GOD SAKE..... RIDE IN SINGLE FILE DAMNIT....", I shouted at him.... "READ THE HIGHWAY CODE"

mercsport

Don't exit onto the by-pass bottom left , although I have seen the odd stray cyclist on there a time or two .

This is the first major r'bout I come across on my way into town from where I live - Saddleworth - so is almost local . I agree with 'andy_wrx ' it was designed by a time serving plonker at the town hall way back , when they were knocking the guts out of the town to serve the god that is the car .

There is no satisfactory way to go around it on a bicycle other than as if you were driving a car - so , if on bike - BRAZEN IT OUT ! Don't be shy or circumspect . Pick your lane - any lane - and stick to it . Like me you'll likely survive . 'NWLondoner' s line is a good line .

I have entered another world and tried the sub-way alternative a couple of times . A bit of a fag actually as you have to find where it begins and ends - somehow . Nothing obvious to steer you there .

Interestingly - perhaps - is the fact that if you exit at lower right and head up a hundred yards to the next lights on , you'll come across my LBS - 'Surosa' ( formerly Bob Barlow's Oldham Cycle Centre ) now manned by Nigel Bishop and wife Mandy ( former ladies world champion ) . But likely you know this already .

softlad

willhub wrote:

I presume allot of people who can actually drive cars would get the roundabout wrong in the image too, allot of car drivers don't know it's legal to ride 2 abreast, on Sunday we was on this quiet straight wide road, well busyish, but not unsafe, and this guy came up matching out speed, passenger opening window and was like "FOR GOD SAKE..... RIDE IN SINGLE FILE DAMNIT....", I shouted at him.... "READ THE HIGHWAY CODE"

It is polite - and sensible - to single out when you are on a 'quiet/busyish' road with traffic. The guy was quite right, irrespective of what it says in the highway code.