Introduction
In the last few years, roundabouts have become more and more numerous in French cities and in other countries.
But roundabouts are not a recent invention. As early as the antiquity, many cities had been built on road networks branching off from a central point. In these centres, crossroads with a round centre acted as symbolic landmarks.
Later on, especially in the 16th century, parks and forests were arranged along avenues that intersected at the roundabouts. It is therefore mainly the external appearance that distinguished the roundabouts from the other crossroads so as to attract the traveller’s attention or highlight the importance of a place.
Nowadays, other safety and traffic-flow factors have been added to the architectural or city planning sides for the development of the use of roundabouts. The building of a roundabout is a technical, symbolic and aesthetic deed.
Firstly, we will review the safety issues regarding intersections, based on statistics. Later on, we will look at the different types of roundabouts and geometry issues.
Then, we will investigate the design software and finally street furniture and signs. |
