Among the birth of Michigan’s first roundabouts was the set of triplets at Lee Road and Old U.S. 23, sired by the construction of the Green Oak Village Place Mall.
We’d never seen such a roundabout before, let alone three of them in a row. And this photo of two-thirds of the roundabouts posted by the Green Oak Charter Township Police Department on its Facebook page is from an angle most of us have likely never seen before.
Complaining about these roundabouts is common. While they seem to do their job of getting people to slow down and think about where they’re going, when we drive through them we always feel like all hell breaking loose is just one wrong move away.
Maybe that’s the genius of the triple roundabouts — no one relaxes when driving through them.
One person not entirely thrilled about the Green Oak roundabouts is Todd Scott, greenways coordinator for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.
In an interview on the Mode Shift website — “an online hub that provides stories, tools, and know-how to empower people to take action and make Michigan communities more walkable, bikeable, and livable” — Smith talks about the problems he sees with the roundabouts, including those for pedestrians and cyclists. (You can read the entire piece by clicking here.)
For more information on how to use a roundabout, here’s some information from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
What do you think? Do you like using the roundabouts, or do you drive out of your way to avoid them?
