Motorists plying on Rajendra Prasad Road and Janpath will be spared long waits at the intersection of these key Lutyens’ Zone roads if the experiment of setting up a temporary roundabout succeeds.
The trial started on Tuesday when traffic cones were placed in a circular manner at the junction and signals were switched off. The diameter of the temporary circle is about the size of the roundabouts spread across the city. However, some motorists complained that since the temporary roundabout was very small some vehicles moved in an anti-clockwise direction around it, creating a precarious situation.
The experiment is going to continue for a week and its observations would determine whether an actual roundabout would be constructed there or not. Besides the feasibility, the findings would also be helpful in chalking out the dimensions and features of the roundabout if at all one is to be constructed.
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“For instance, most roundabouts do not have signals but there are a few such as the one at the intersection of Pusa Road and Shankar Road. The height will also be a determinant as islands which are very high above the ground reduce the visibility from a distance,” said a senior police officer.
And most commuters The Hindu spoke to gave a thumbs up to a signal-free intersection. “Earlier, the pulse for the traffic on one side was nearly 90 seconds. . In several nearby roads, rotaries have been very effective as the circular motion of the vehicles reduces any possibility of traffic from one side clashing into another,” said Saurabh, who drives his way to his office on Parliament Street.