Rotary intersection (Roundabout)

It is a specialized form of ‘at grade’ intersection laid out

for movement of traffic in one direction round a central
islands. The vehicles form the converging areas are
forced to move around the central island in a clockwise
direction (where the left-side rule of traffic prevails) in
an orderly manner and weave out of the rotary movement
into their desired directions.
Rotary Intersection
Advantages
1. An orderly and regimented traffic flow is provided by one way
movement
2. All traffic proceeds simultaneously and continuously at fairly
uniform, though low speed. Frequent stopping and starting are
avoided.
3. Direct conflict is eliminated, all traffic streams merging and
leaving at small angles.
4. Accidents occur are of minor in nature
5. All turns can be made with ease
6. A rotary is suited for intersections with five or more intersecting
legs and where there are heavy right-turning movements
7. For moderate traffic, rotaries are self-governing and need no
control by police or traffic signals.
Disadvantages
1.A rotary can accommodate no more traffic than a properly
designed channelized layout
2. Required more land and may not be feasible at built-up locations
3. Large and relatively flat land requirement may make it
impracticable in some locality due to topographic conditions
4.Where pedestrian traffic is large, a rotary by itself is not
sufficient to control traffic and has to be supplemented by traffic
police
5. In high speed roads, require extremely large size
6. Where the angle of intersection between two roads is too acute,
it becomes difficult to provide adequate weaving length.
7. Where provided at close intervals they are troublesome
8. Traffic turning right has to travel a little extra distance
9. A rotary may require many warning and directional signs for
safety
Guidelines for selecting a rotary type of intersection
1. Suitable where volume entering from different intersecting legs
are approximately equal
2. A total volume of 3000 vehicles per hour entering from all the
intersecting legs appears to be maximum practical capacity of high
type rotaries
3. Appropriate when the proportion of turning traffic is very high
4. A rotary is a good choice when there are more than four
approaches to the junction
5. When the approach width are restricted and it is impossible to
provide separate lanes for through and turning traffic, a rotary may
be desirable
6. The lowest traffic volume for which a rotary design should be
considered is about 500 vehicles per hour
7. Suitable for moderately busy intersections in urban and suburban
areas
Design elements

Design speed: Rural areas- 40 Kph, Urban areas- 30 Kph

Radius of entry curve: Rural areas- 20-35m, urban areas- 15-
25m
Radius of exit curve: 1.5-2 times of Radius of entry curve
Radius of central islands: 1.33 times of radius of entry curve
Weaving lengths: Minimum weaving lengths are- for urban
areas: 30m and for rural areas: 45m
 Width of carriageway at entry and exit
Width of
Carriageway width
Area carriageway at entry
of approach road
and exit (m)
7m (2 lanes) 6.5

10.5 (3 lanes) 7.0

Rural
14m (4 lanes) 8.0

21m (6 lanes) 13.0

7m (2 lanes) 7.0

10.5 (3 lanes) 7.5

Urban
14m (4 lanes) 10.0

21m (6 lanes) 15.0

Width of weaving section
W= [(e1+e2)/2] + 3.5
Entry and exit angles: entry angles should be larger exit angles
and it is desirable that the entry angles should be about 600 if
possible.

Capacity: QP=

Where
Qp= practical capacity of the weaving section in PCU
w= width of the weaving section in m
e= average entry width of the rotary in m= (e1+e2)/2
l= length of the weaving section
P = proportion of weaving traffic i.e. ratio of sum of crossing
streams to the total traffic on the weaving section
= (b+c)/(a+b+c+d)
The above formula is valid under the following
conditions:
1. There are no standing vehicles on the approaches to the
rotary
2. The site of the rotary is level and approach gradient do
not exceed 1 in 25
3. e/w should be between 0.4 -1.0
4. w/l should be between 0.12-0.40
5. P should be between 0.4 and 1.0
6. l should be between 18-90m
Equivalency factors for use in rotary design

Sl. No. Vehicle type PCU

Cars and light commercial

1 1.0
vehicles including –wheelers
Buses and medium heavy
2 2.8
commercial vehicles

3 Motorcycles and scooters 0.75

4 Pedal cycles 0.5

5 Animal drawn vehicles 4-6

Design Problem:
Traffic flows in an urban section at the intersection of two highways in
the design hour are given below:
Left turning Straight ahead Right turning
Approach Comm Comm Comm.
Cars Scooters Cars Scooters Cars Scooters
veh. veh. veh.

N 200 50 100 250 100 150 150 50 80

E 180 60 80 220 50 120 200 40 120

S 250 80 100 150 50 90 160 70 90

W 220 50 120 180 60 100 250 60 100

The highways at present intersect at right angles and have a

carriageway width of 15 m. Design a rotary intersection making
suitable assumptions.
Here, e=(10+10)/2
=10m
And w=[(e1 +e2 )/2]+3.5
=13.5m
 Mini Roundabouts
Basic principles of design:
•Provision of small diameter island of a diameter of about
1/3rd that of a hypothetical circle inscribed within the outer
carriageway boundaries, but normally not less than 8m. For
new layouts, space for a larger diameter (15-25m) may be
reserved if such a provision becomes necessary in future.
•An increase in the diameter of lanes at the give-way lane.
•A minimum stopping distance of 25m between the give-way
line and the point of conflict with a vehicle from the left.
(shown as dimension X in fig)
•A width between traffic islands and the roundabout (shown
as dimension Y in fig) which is not less than the total lane
width at the entry preceding it, i.e. dimension(shown as Z in
fig)
•An entry taper (about 1 in 6) that is about twice as sharp as
the exit taper (about 1 in 12)
•A deflection island (shown as B in fig) intended to ensure
that straight-through movements do not occur.
•To maintain junction capacity, a single lane approach
should be tapered to give at least three lanes at the junction
and a 2-lane approach tapered to at least four lanes at the
junction. At the exits, the merge should normally be from
four lanes to two lanes and from two lanes to one lanes.
Mini Roundabouts
Blackmore gives the capacity of a mini roundabout as:
q = K(∑w + a1/2)
where q = total entry volume in PCU/hour
∑w = sum of the basic road width (not half widths) used by
traffic in both directions to and from the intersection, in
meters.
a = area of the junction widening
K = efficiency co-eff.
Typical values are:
K values (PCU/hr)
3 way junction 80
4 way junction 70
5 way junction 65
Advantages of mini roundabouts
•Increase in capacity: wherever mini roundabouts have
replaced large diameter roundabouts, a general increase in
the capacity has been noted. As compared to signalized
junctions too, mini roundabouts can bring about higher
capacities.
•Accident rates: typical accident rates before and after
conversion of junctions into mini roundabouts are yet to be
fully analyzed and evaluated, but a trend of a decrease in
the number of fatal and serious injury accidents has been
noticed.
Limitations for use:
•The mini roundabout requires careful considerations on the
design speed and the ways of reducing speeds at junctions
to this value.
•A very high standard of pavement markings and road
signing, and great care in provision of guide islands,
alignment of the kerbs and location of the central island are
necessary for the satisfactory functioning of this type of
junction.
•Adequate visibility to the approaching drivers is of prime
importance. This alone will enable him to give way to the
traffic on his right and to check on the traffic on his left for
giving way to him.