EDMONTON - Love them or hate them, more traffic circles are coming to city streets.

Traffic planners have concept designs finalized for a “turbo roundabout,” a new design first used in The Netherlands that forces drivers in the outside lane to exit at the first or second opportunity rather than endlessly circling, changing lanes and causing fender-benders.

“A lot of our traffic circles are set up so you could go around four or five times,” said Rob Gibbard, director of transportation planning. The turbo roundabout still needs community consultation and funding, but traffic engineers are hoping to try it out at 118th Avenue and 101st Street.

In Europe, engineers use concrete curbs to keep traffic in the right lane and out the right exit, Edmonton hopes textured surfaces will accomplish the same thing without impeding snow removal.

Edmonton was the traffic circle capital of Canada in the 1950s, then moved away from the design and even removed several near the University of Alberta.

People complain other drivers don’t understand the rules. But they prevent high-speed, T-bone collisions and are safer than a signalled intersection.

At the city’s annual traffic safety conference next week, expect roundabouts to be a topic of conversation. The conference focuses on a new approach called Safe Systems, which aims to re-engineer the road system to prevent major injuries and fatalities.

“We know a crash will happen despite all of our best efforts,” said Australian Bruce Corben, a consultant making a presentation to the conference Wednesday. “Humans do make intentional and unintentional mistakes. How do we design an intersection so that any crash has a very low chance of a severe outcome?”

In 2012, Corben was hired to analyze eight poorly performing intersections in Edmonton, Sherwood Park and St. Albert. All have common safety flaws that created the possibility of a T-bone crash when a person turns left or runs a red, which is the most dangerous way for a vehicle to get hit.

“We believe the use of roundabout is the single most effective tool. But it’s a culture change, getting used to these new tools,” he said.

In Victoria, Australia, he oversaw the change of more than 100 intersections to roundabouts and studied the effects, he said. “We find a 80- to 90-per-cent reduction in the most severe injury crashes.”

In Edmonton, Gibbard’s department approved concept plans for at least two traffic circles on 92nd Avenue between 215th Street and 231st Street. A two-lane roundabout is planned for 112th Street and 167th Avenue, and a single-lane roundabout for 112th Street and 176th Avenue. Other new areas will also be considered. Gibbard said the province now has a policy to consider a roundabout whenever they are thinking of installing signals at a rural intersection.

“At the right traffic volumes, they work very well,” he said. Edmonton is reconsidering where to place crosswalks around the circles, in some cases moving them further from the entrance/exit to increase visibility.

estolte@edmontonjournal.com

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