Brook Hill Roundabout

[molly44 10]

well i think later on in the year it might get a bit better, less people going into town, less cars on the road, and less students around.

[The Joker 10]

It's about time something is done with this thing, I roughly, on average see one accident whether minor or serious once a week,

 

...

 

the problem I find is the light crossings that is placed as you exit the island, I do realise people need to cross the road but it's causing havoc on the island especially in rush hour, surely the Council can come up with a better method then the one that is currently used.

 

I've not seen any accidents there... maybe I'm just very unlucky.

 

However, I have seen, and been involved in, quite a few near-accidents though. All of them without exception, down to some idiotic, impatient motorist

[Cyclone 10]

well i think later on in the year it might get a bit better, less people going into town, less cars on the road, and less students around.

 

Less people going into town than on NYE? When a lot of people weren't working and at lunch time, when those who were had arrived hours ago. The traffic doesn't get much lighter than it was. The students are obviously all at home for their xmas holiday...

[ptigga 10]

The pedestrian crossings are located where pedestrians want to cross in order to get where they are going. If you move the crossings out of their line of travel then they won't get used as much and pedestrians will cross the road where there are no crossings.

 

One possible solution I've thought of is to dig out the entire footprint of the roundabout and rebuild the roundabout and entrances/exits on stilts, leaving a separate area for pedestrians, some cyclists and trams underneath. Pedestrians and some cyclists can cross directly underneath the roundabout taking the shortest route. The space underneath is open, instead of being enclosed like a subway. Steps and circuitous ramps are avoided by landscaping the space to achieve changes in height with gradual inclines. I imagine that this would be similar to the pedestrian space underneath the Western bank dual carriageway in-front of the Student Union.

 

Traffic exiting the roundabout will not be held up by pedestrian crossings and this will make the roundabout easier to negotiate however speeds on the roundabout should still be manageable because of the shape of the roundabout and because (as Planner1 says) the congestion is caused by the amount of traffic converging and not the queues at the exits. Relatively slow speeds (15-25 MPH) mean that the roundabout will still be fairly safe for the cyclists that use the road instead of the pedestrian space, depending on their particular journey.

 

Extensive landscaping would be required and I have no idea how traffic could be accommodated during construction. However if those problems could be overcome then I believe the result would be excellent for all users.

[monkey69 10]

i think people should have a look at this..

[monkey69 10]

it didnt work

[WalkleyIan 10]

i think people should have a look at this..

 

Been keeping an eye on this story at

 

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.com/

 

Turns out that driver was already under a suspended sentence for violence & malicious wounding. That sentence was not referred back to the crown court despite the new conviction.

 

Sounds like he's a lucky boy not to be behind bars now.

[monkey69 10]

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/police_name_south_yorkshire_cyclist_killed_in_crash_1_4150719

 

results of not paying attention

[Burnsie 10]

Not read the whole thread (so this might have already been mentioned). I live in Woodseats and use Brookhill everyday (never had a crash or seen one though!). What normally gets me is, on my way home, coming up the hill on Netherthrope Road, going straight on to upper Hanover way (past the tram stop) is that all the lights SEEM to me to work on different timings.

 

You get the first pedestrian crossing on red (normally causing traffic to stop on the roundabout). That turns green but at the same time the second lights further down could go red (meaning cars move forward by about 10 meters), then the one at the end (for the tram) goes red too (another 10 meters). All this restricts traffic flow and causes problems on the roundabout IMO.

 

Its been mentioned in here before that the traffic in/through woodseats is a problem. Planner 1 (i believe) mentioned that the crossings in woodseats are grouped together so they all change at the same time. This is to AID traffic flow. The problem is then you get people waiting at the crossing for ages....

[Cyclone 10]

I've made the same point, but planner1 insists that they are all carefully coordinated and work in sync.

It's obviously not the case, even in light traffic you can stop 3 times within 50 metres at 3 sets of traffic lights and wait at each one for a minute.

[Taximark 10]

I've made the same point, but planner1 insists that they are all carefully coordinated and work in sync.

It's obviously not the case, even in light traffic you can stop 3 times within 50 metres at 3 sets of traffic lights and wait at each one for a minute.

 

Well I can assure you they are not in sync as I was working today and must of been on the Island about four times, It's causing havoc especially in heavy traffic.

[Planner1 438]

I've made the same point, but planner1 insists that they are all carefully coordinated and work in sync.

It's obviously not the case, even in light traffic you can stop 3 times within 50 metres at 3 sets of traffic lights and wait at each one for a minute.

 

That isn't quite what I said, which was more along the lines of the Council have the ability to co-ordinate them and that they will certainly be co-ordinated as much as is possible.

 

A couple of very imporant points to remember:

• Supertram comes through the Glossop Rd / Uppper Hanover St junction and, as at most other junctions, it gets priority over all other road users
  
• You can only co-ordinate traffic signals in one direction. People on this thread are moaning about co-ordination in both directions between Glossop Rd and Brook Hill roundabout. You can only do it in one direction.
  

 

Because the tram comes through the junction in two directions and can arrive to claim priority at any point in the signal cycle it is very difficult to achieve any consistent level of signal co-ordination. The council have to satisfy a lot of competing demands in that location ie tram prioriity, bus priority, pedestrian priority and general traffic.