How can road designers get drivers to slow down at approaches to roundabouts—and keep themselves and pedestrians safe? Two new resources from the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) offer strategies: A quick reference guide identifies treatments for a range of settings, and a research report offers ideas to improve pedestrian experiences.
The quick reference guide examines best practices and techniques that are the most effective at lowering approach speed. Geometric design principles are the most common method, and traffic control devices—specifically, signing and markings—also pay a vital role. Other treatment options include illumination, landscaping, and rumble strips. For each treatment, the nine-page guide looks at design considerations, benefits, where to use it, and effectiveness.
The pedestrian experience report offers guidance to increase driver yielding at new and existing roundabouts. Among the study’s recommendations:
- Include pedestrians, bicyclists, and wheelchair users in design criteria and dimensions.
- Make sidewalks wide enough to accommodate the expected user volume—including people with bicycles, strollers, or wheelchairs—and separate sidewalks from the road with a landscape strip to discourage crossings outside of crosswalks.
- Design splitter islands of adequate width to accommodate all users.
- Signalize pedestrian crossings where there are higher volumes of vehicles and pedestrians or the roundabout is more complex, such as with a multilane approach. Rectangular rapid flashing beacons are effective.
Learn more:
- Strategies for Effective Roundabout Speed Reduction (LRRB, 2022)
- Pedestrian User Experience at Roundabouts (LRRB, 2023)