Concern about the use of the Warrens Roundabout remains uppermost in the minds of those who have to use it since the expansion. The image [click to enlarge] bears two points in red which are areas of the roundabout causing the most problems for motorists. Despite improved road markings, the ignorance and impatience shown by users of the roundabout when crossing lanes to exit remains an issue.
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I see that David has posted the latest instructions for proper use of the Roundabout. It should be pinned to the top of the blog for all potential users of the roundabout to study their correct lane options for using it.
The roundabout still constitutes a hazard to users but if every user is extra vigilant and the man on the right does not automatically assume that he is always right, it will work.
The graphics are still a bit unclear but this is a vast improvement on the constant chop and changes of the past week. They should be improved as time goes by and kept before the travelling public. Indeed, I think the insurance companies, MTW, the Project team and Simpsons should have some glossy copies printed and made available for free distribution at the nearby Gas stations. The first panel with text instructions is as important as the diagrams.
By the way, I’ve heard that the body repair shops, have been doing an excellent business from the numerous accidents at the roundabout.
The constant spread of fear about this roundabout, is partly responsible for some of the accidents,and not the layout of the roundabout itself.Roundabouts ,like major road junctions, should be approached with caution,and not raced into as we see many drivers do daily .
I wonder how many drivers in Barbados,not including those of the big transport entities, have ever bothered or considered undertaking a course in Defensive Driving.
As I have stated in another blog some people do not know how to use a roundabout.I saw a woman turning right on the same roundabout coming from the Welches / Redmans road and going towards UWI. We had to swerve to avoid hitting her and many cars as well. She was driving into oncoming traffic on the roundabout.
Islandgal246. Was she a regular user of the roundabout? Was she an experienced driver or new user of our roads?
If you look carefully at the NEW arrow sign (just a few days old) at the entrance to the roundabout it clearly indicates (to a novice) that one can turn right onto oncoming traffic from the rightmost / inner lane. Clearly that was not intended, but the sign could reasonably be interpreted as saying so.
That sign needs to be changed once again to accord with the new instructions as well as to clearly indicate to foreigners that one cannot turn right even though the arrow can be interpreted as allowing that.
That right arrow prong at that junction needs to be removed.
@Checkit-Out
Thanks for your feedback, will keep it on the frontpage for awhile.
Check it out….”Islandgal246. Was she a regular user of the roundabout? Was she an experienced driver or new user of our roads? ”
@Check it out ……next time I will stop and ask her. Stupse
Checkit-Out | January 19, 2012 at 9:12 AM |
Islandgal246. Was she a regular user of the roundabout? Was she an experienced driver or new user of our roads?
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What the hell that got to do with it? A few weeks after leaving Barbados, without any knowledge of what a roundabout was,as Barbados had not yet such, I found my self on driver training in the very busy port cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, which at the time had what was referred to as Compass roundabouts,which were very intimidating. The long and short of it is that I had a very good instructor who was able to passed on instructions most effectively. And therein lies much of our driving problems in Barbados…….lack of adequate and effective driver training.
It appears there is a plan to build an island on the stretch of road CGI and KFC. It would effectively block right turns exiting CGI and Chefette.
Here is an image of one of the most recent markings:
http://bajan.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/warrens-3-arrow-direction.jpg
David; Thanks for your post above showing the arrow marking on the rightmost lane on the approach to the curve that goes into the rightmost lane of the roundabout. There is another one placed at the very entrance of that lane into the roundabout. I think it is very easy for someone not accustomed to roundabouts to mistakenly think that the sign means that they can turn right onto the oncoming traffic around the roundabout if there is no traffic coming around the roundabout when they enter it. As you know, there are many american tourists who have never negotiated a roundabout before coming to Barbados and who could possibly make that mistake. Tourists do not have to take a driving test to get a temporary Barbados driving license or they can also use an international drivers licence.
Islandgal 246 and Colonel Buggy; The question was rhetorical and was not intended to be answered. Sorry to have offended both of you.
Colonel BUggy; Many visitors do not have to undergo training on roundabouts to be able to legally drive in Barbados and therefore can kill themselves or injure others at this roundabout here.
I think the sign needs changing as the right side arrow needs to be heavily curved (and not be essentially straight) to clearly show that it means that one can go around the roundabout to the university or back up to redmans village
sigh
whoever put together this project clearly only thinks in terms of paper feasibility not practical functionality. Public education is critical and having to change markings more than once indicates that these guys just winging it at motorists expense.
Someone should ask for a final cost on this project. Both monetary, accident based and for the inconvenience…
@Observing
To quote Mike Williams today, there is nothing known as a ready made roundabout, expect that changes will have to be made as feedback is looped.
@ David
Mike Williams was talking nonsense when he said that…
Where else in the world do you think it would be acceptable to do something like this by trial and error?
Real engineering is about doing exactly that – solving problems on paper to avoid having to do it by trial and error.
Most idiots can manage the latter…
@BT
Williams appears to have earned his accredation in BSpr from the University of Waterford with distinction..
@Check-it-out. Sometimes visitors,generally, are more observant and tread more carefully that locals,who as the lady from the Pine stated, drive mainly by memory . There were two types of roundabouts in Germany, an International one,as denoted by the the blue International roundabout sign, where traffic on the roundabout has priority,and a National roundabout , denoted by a red roundabout sign, where traffic already on the roundabout must give way to traffic on the right wishing to enter the roundabout. Most confusing. But it was the locals, and not us “guests” who were mainly involved in the many accidents at these roundabouts.
@ David
…LOL he can’t be all bad then.
Colonel Buggy; You said above;
“Sometimes visitors,generally, are more observant and tread more carefully that locals,who as the lady from the Pine stated, drive mainly by memory “
That is also essentially what I am saying as well. Visitors normally rely on signage on the roads and along the roads. Locals don’t. So bad or incorrect signage is likely to affect visitors to a much greater extent than locals.
Just one more question to you; If you were new to roundabouts and was a visitor who did not have the luxury of having driving lessons by a great local instructor and you had got onto the right lane of the approach to the roundabout and at the very entrance of the roundabout you looked right and saw no cars approaching, would it be possible that you might interpret the sign that david posted yesterday at 5.22 pm as indicating that you could go right?
Look at the sign, man!
That scenario isn’t likely to happen very often but I was presenting it as a possible explanation for someone going right, against the roundabout traffic, at the roundabout. I would be most surprised if it was a barbadian driver doing that.
like my fellow blogger BP would say if wunna don’t like de round about wunna get a ki…s me a,,,,s helicopter. Less traffic down here more up dey. i gone before some body say i starting trouble.
David; Re. your 2.10 pm post yesterday. An Island opposite the Cheffette and CGI entrances would be good. But in the meantime, would’nt a simple “No Right Turn” sign do the job also?
@ Check-it-out .Just one more question to you; If you were new to roundabouts and was a visitor who did not have the luxury of having driving lessons by a great local instructor and you had got onto the right lane of the approach to the roundabout and at the very entrance of the roundabout you looked right and saw no cars approaching, would it be possible that you might interpret the sign that david posted yesterday at 5.22 pm as indicating that you could go right?
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Roundabouts ,whether National or International ,should prominently display the International Roundabout traffic sign, which clearly indicates the direction of traffic flow . By the way, that same road sign you mentioned , also indicates straight ahead immediately before the roundabout, but you do not expect anyone to literally drive straight over the roundabout island.
ac | January 20, 2012 at 8:29 PM |
like my fellow blogger BP would say if wunna don’t like de round about wunna get a ki…s me a,,,,s helicopter. Less traffic down here more up dey. i gone before some body say i starting trouble.
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Could not agree with you more,ac, but many of us would prefer to use the term Flyover instead of Helicopter. Same thing ,only difference.
All this confusion because you opposed flyovers and are now boxed into a corner and can’t do the obvious.Twist it any which way you want…..modifying roundabouts,redirecting traffic,remarking roads.adding roads,doesn’t matter.Traffic meeting at 90 degrees has no simple easy answer,and certainly nothing tried over the last four years has been successful.You need to eliminate the the point where the east west crosses the north south.How best to do it ? Flyovers or cross overs !!
They were changing / repositioning the signs on the road again today.
John Browne | January 23, 2012 at 8:08 PM | All this confusion because you opposed flyovers and are now boxed into a corner and can’t do the obvious.Twist it any which way you want…..modifying roundabouts,redirecting traffic,remarking roads.adding roads,doesn’t matter.Traffic meeting at 90 degrees has no simple easy answer,and certainly nothing tried over the last four years has been successful.You need to eliminate the the point where the east west crosses the north south.How best to do it ? Flyovers or cross overs !!
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This was the obvious solution obvious to anyone who had a bit of vision and common sense that is!
Those who access Facebook can have a laugh:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2847260494769&set=a.2847255214637.2133171.1057129554&type=1
Publishing the recommended ways to use the Roundabout in the Newspapers and the general media highlighting the various problems at the roundabout seems to have worked. I’ve been told by someone who works close to the roundabout and has regular contacts with the accidents there that there has been a drastic reduction in the accidents over the past few days.
A recent perspective:
More changes at Warrens
Breaking the rules.
After weeks of careful observation, we have to agree with authorities at the Ministry of Transport and Works — many of the accidents at the D’Arcy Scott in Warrens result from drivers not following the rules.
And the daily routine of fender benders continues daily, keeping personnel from the District “A” Police Station quite busy.
But there is a problem, it is equally clear that the rules for the use of this roundabout have also been changing daily, creating major challenges, even for those who use the re-aligned junction daily and consider themselves familiar.
From the direction of Redman’s Village the right lane that a few weeks ago was strictly for travelling in the direction of the University of the West Indies, now also accommodates straight-through traffic. On the other hand, the centre lane which allowed travel straight ahead or to the right, was today painted with a huge sign indicating motorist can now only travel towards the Everton Weekes Roundabout.
Traffic leaving the industrial park that accommodates Simpson Motors and other business today were favoured with their third set of painted directions since the junction opened a few weeks ago, while the combination of black pain on top of white lines and arrows tell the story of the number of changes at the access to Chefette and Shell gas station.
Authorities, it would appear, are applying the paint as they observe the accidents and near misses.
We wonder now if this afternoon’s accident involving an emergency ambulance at the controversial roundabout will prompt more paint alterations tomorrow.
The privately-operated Island Care Emergency ambulance and a car collided, causing only minor damage to both vehicles.
The car was exiting the commercial area housing Barbados TODAY and other businesses, while the ambulance was on the roundabout heading in the direction of the Warrens Polyclinic when the accident occurred.
Another ambulance from the same company soon arrived on the scene to take the paramedic in that vehicle onto the incident to which the other ambulance was originally destined.
Warrens Roundabout is child’s play compared to some found elsewhere.
http://www.damncoolpictures.com/2011/02/magic-roundabout.html
And here is what the last administration had suggested to ease the chronic grid lock at our major roundabouts on the ABC Highway. Just great for Warrens,Mr Engineer Boyce.
http://www.atkinsglobal.com/sectors-and-services/sectors/roads/technical-journals/~/media/Files/A/Atkins-Global/Attachments/sectors/roads/library-docs/technical-journal-3/integrated-urban-traffic-management-and-control-stratigies.pdf
@Colonel Buggy
Wow!
Warrens roundabout makes Marble Arch in London look like a piece of cake
@islandgal
Have to DISAGREE with you 🙂
islandgal246 | January 26, 2012 at 6:39 PM |
Warrens roundabout makes Marble Arch in London look like a piece of cake
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Would that be a Marble Cake or a………..
http://www.sweetlifeconfections.com/albums/album_image/2896755/5445117.htm
LOLLL yes Colonel …..Marble cake…Good one there..I like it!
@ Colonel Buggy
I see that damage control has been sent in where you get those rediculous photos man. If you had been to any of the public meetinsg and paids attention you would know that the designs for the flyovers were notihng like that at all.
Maybe you wus at de back texting your girlfriend.
The problem with this and always was is that the traffic problem on the highway one of congested roundabouts where you have major roads crossing the highway.
Making bigger roundabouts just means we have bigger congested roudabouts with all the opportunity for accidents as is so clearly illustrated at Darcy Scott.
The original problem remains – but bigger.
Canceling the flyovers was a serious error of judgement.
RU4real; Seems to me that, at the Town Hall meeting for the Warrens Road Improvement roundabout project, the major problem they said they were addressing was the backups caused by right turns onto the highways. Not the basic problem that the flyovers would probably have addressed. The bigger roundabout was probably designed to give special treatment and allow access to and from the Simpsons complex and seems to be a special case. All the other new roundabouts in the Warrens system are small ones and should not create problems on the scale of the Simpsons / D’arcy Scott roundabout.
Who is d’arcy scott
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