Lincolnite

I was surprised to see that in the paper.  I thought, perhaps ignorantly, that roundabouts were just for in-town traffic.  I can’t quite envision them for highway traffic.

They aren’t on the Beltway itself. I made the same mistake when I first looked at the article. They are on Saltillo, which is just north of the Beltway. Apparently the state is responsible for portions of the roads near the beltway, probably because the beltway will screw them all up.

There’s going to be quite a bit of reconstruction of intersections on Saltillo Rd. when the South Beltway is built.

The plans on the Department of Roads Web site give a pretty good indication of where the roundabouts will be placed:

http://www.nebraskatransportation.org/projects/south-beltway/index.htm

Driving in the UK, I’ve hit some big roundabouts. They work fine, but I bet they’ll be a little disconcerting if you suddenly hit a big one, without ever seeing one before.

My first experience with a roundabout was with a small one, and I still had a few white-knuckled seconds before an Englishman helpfully urged me forward with a friendly honk and a flash of the gesture for “peace”...

Michael, your reference to big roundabouts in the UK reminds me of European Vacation when Chevy Chase can’t get left in the roundabout and keeps saying “Look kids.  Big Ben.  Parliament,” everytime he drove around the circle again.

Everyone seems to forget about the 3-legged roundabout at 16th and Center Park Rd (okay, it’s in an industrial park, no one goes there), but it’s been there for years, and works very well. Quite large in diameter in order to handle semi-trailers, and still only single-lane. I would be quite happy to see more, at least at intersections similar to those on Sheridan.

I don’t think the Center Park Road roundabout would carry the same amount of traffic as the one on Saltillo Road.  The speed limits would definitely be different too.