Hope they help. Have you had them before?
I was surprised on first visiting this spot how close the crossing is to a junction. Those blokes on the crossing are taking a risk.
But I know what you mean I am finding it increasingly difficult to drive - speed down to 20 mph, no turning there, keep out of the bus lane and that’s not to mention keeping an eye out for pedestrians and other drivers.
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I’m fairly certain it’s designed to make you slow down as it’s potentially dangerous if you don’t, which is all very well until the pedestrian in front or tailgater behind doesn’t appreciate the risk to themselves or others.
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This is the fourth time over the last three years, previously they have worked for a few months giving some mixed relief. However, this morning I got up without any groaning, and have walked up the hill without any problems. A bit sore sitting in the car for a while, but an excellent start. Early Christmas present.
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That’s good to hear.
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Because that is where vehicle speeds are lowest, meaning if vehicles hit pedestrians then injury severity is lower - designing for the most vulnerable road user in this case.
We often joke as traffic engineers that anyone who drives is a traffic engineer 
. Personally I don’t favor bi-directional cycle lanes though - confusing = unsafe, and there are better alternatives if required.
Hi Mike, I appreciate you’ve commented before.
My main bugbear is with smaller roundabouts where cars often pull out quickly and leave via the next or second exit so the act of pulling out quickly because you are looking to avoid vehicles coming round the roundabout means you are concentrating behind you and then enter a region where there is a crossing a few yards ahead. Hard to explain but I find it dangerous on certain routes which are busy.
I also cannot understand why many of these where some obvious (to me) changes are not implemented and daft ones are?
I actually think this is similar to the bi-directional cycle lanes in that the driver conventionally would only look at a hazard from one direction eg turning right in the UK you’d look at oncoming traffic ahead and turn when clear whereas now once that is clear you may not appreciate someone coming ‘from behind’ on the other side on a bicycle.
I’m sure you guys are doing everything for the correct reasons, I just wonder sometimes if the public aren’t educated/warned as they should be regarding changes and how to handle new traffic measures.
One of the best tips I’ve seen in years to avoid hitting cyclists after parking is to open the driver door with your left hand which almost forces you to look behind in your blind spot. Simple and presumably effective.
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Yes, roundabouts are not the best for including pedestrian crossings. Having raised platforms can help. Off course having a crossing entering the roundabout means the opposite side is on the exit, which had inherent risks as you describe.
Ideally, pedestrian crossings should be away from intersections, or signalised, but it’s very site specific and they need to be where people want to cross the road.
The only reason I see that as illogical is that looking behind to pull out at a roundabout (assuming ahead is clear) means when you do even at a lower speed there is far less time to brake if a pedestrian steps out 3 yards after an exit you take compared to 20-30 yards away. With 20-30 yards ahead you have more time to concentrate on pedestrians alone.
I can only assume this has been modelled extensively but logically to me it’s flawed, sorry.
Out of interest is there a simple layman’s guide to some of these traffic measures?
I’d rather not have to, but often wonder why drivers are not expected to refresh their theoretical knowledge every 5 years or so via some kind of online test.
Exiting a small roundabout means a speed of around 20kmh, which is survivable for a pedestrian if hit. On the approach, yes an alert driver will stop in time, but those looking for a gap in traffic could hit a pedestrian at 50kmh, which is much more dangerous.
So, it’s just about finding a balance for the safest design that always have a level of risk.
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Does it not make sense though that the first action is to enter the roundabout so with a crossing only a few feet after the first exit you have little time to slow even at 20 or less? If the crossing was 20 yards away from the exit the pedestrian gets a better outcome as you have significnatly more time to see them step out and slow/stop?
Possibly, but it also needs to be where people will use it, and in many situations, that will be at the road intersection. Off course, this is not an exact science and a lot of what I see being done in the UK is over-engineered compared with what we would do in a large town here.
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And it’s just not roundabouts over here, as T-junctions (often with filter lanes) controlled by 'lights, often have a Pelican located within ~ 20/30ft of the turn on to the major road – and I’ve seen so many drivers think the Pelican’s RAG lights are controlling the major road flow and not stop. A few years back, when the supermarkets were expanding in to all kinds of nooks and crannies in the UK, so many air-locks were created, it became farcical in some places.
And as a driver, the one thing you are taught is to clear a roundabout and not leave your posterior pointing out 
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…but you wouldn’t put a crossing on a motorway/dual carriageway simply because people want to cross the road?
Seems the mantra is to put the crossing where someone would not have to walk another 20-30 yards to do so safely even if it puts the pedestrian at higher risk?
Sorry if I’m not understanding the rationale but there has to be a balance of risks surely?
Busy day in the kitchen, nothing too stressful just time consuming…
Prep red cabbage
Curried butter
Cheese palmiers
Reduce game stock
Toast pine nuts
Grill bacon
caramelised chestnut Oat milk for Secret Love
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I did my annual stock check of 2500+ CD’s.
2 missing which I later recalled had been binned due scratches causing skipping. Now removed from database.
2 not recorded, so rectified that.
6 put away incorrectly and turned up as I went along. Now filed correctly.
All is in order. 
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With things like the supermarket entrance/exit junctions and other T-junctions, I suspect part of the rationale is to use the traffic islands where the 'lights are located i.e. it’s easy to link to these, rather than build another set, with all the commensurate wiring and carriageway implications, say 30/40 yards away. I can see the logic – it’s all sub-optimal whichever way you look at it.
Anyway, Santa’s been, I’ve not even got a chimney as an access point, how on earth did that happen? 
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I think the truth is that Santa long ago started to use wormholes between the roof and the place where the stockings are, in order to avoid all those hot feet incidents.
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