Magical roundabout: A trip around the world on the most difficult road junction in the world

Roundabouts, popular in different countries, in particular in the UK, are obviously more effective than full-stop intersections or other types of intersections. But in many places, including the USA, they did not find recognition.

There are several explanations for this. Some experts point out a historical difference in the evolution of infrastructures and areas of government investment, while others argue that the British culture of teamwork is not compatible with the American mentality. Or, perhaps, the Americans once looked at this denouement and screamed in horror into the night.

In Swindon (England), perhaps, is one of the most obscure looking crossroads ever created by man: the first in the world “Magic roundabout”, also known as the “roundabout”.

A complex roundabout consists of five separate smaller roundabouts that direct traffic clockwise and are located around one central ring operating counterclockwise.


Movement diagram

Despite the terrible appearance, this configuration is much more efficient than conventional roundabouts and has been adopted for implementation in other parts of Britain.



Each of the external circles serves the entry of cars and their exit from the corresponding road. Experienced drivers can drive around in a more efficient way and save time. Less experienced ones can move with the flow, going around the edges until they reach the desired exit. For drivers traveling from one end of the roundabout to the opposite, the passage of the Magical roundabout may take half the time than crossing a standard roundabout.

Traffic congestion in Swindon was seriously reduced due to the design of this interchange, even with a gradual increase in traffic. But the subjective opinions of drivers unfamiliar with it may differ from each other.



The denouement was developed by engineer Frank Blackmore, who worked at the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory. The famous denouement in Swindon appeared today in 1972. It was originally called County Islands, but it was quickly dubbed the “Roundabout”, and as a result, this name became official.

Blackmore developed its design by comparing single roundabouts with alternative straight-line ones, and then began to add double, triple and quadruple options:



At first, traffic policemen stood at the roundabout to help drivers. A successful experiment led to their replacement with road signs.



But the Roundabout has its critics. The British insurance company called her the worst in the world, she received the same epithet from one of the automobile magazines and she also got into the top ten worst outcomes according to the BBC News poll.



Despite negative reviews in the press, Swindon's interchanges have surprisingly excellent safety and efficacy indicators. A very complex view of the denouement hides a fairly simple set of rules for drivers:

1. Avoid collisions;
2. Follow the lines and arrows;
3. Pass people who are already at the roundabout;
4. Follow to your goal.

Tom Scott, the producer of the next video, compares the outward impression of the mess at the denouement with the complex behavior of groups of birds. As he notes in the video, even a few simple rules can lead to the fact that for an outside observer it looks like chaotic behavior of bird flocks.



The key to decoupling is the simplicity of the rules. Efficiency is achieved by reducing the speed of traffic and increasing the attention of drivers. At uncontrolled intersections, both roundabouts and regular ones, drivers usually closely monitor the road and surroundings based on their considerations, rather than on signals and signs.

There are even people who advocate for the extreme expansion of this principle, for a “common space” free of traffic lights, signs, sidewalks and markings. This type of traffic control is not so comfortable, but the driver’s attention generated by it forces the latter to follow the road, bicycles and pedestrians as well as the road ahead.