History:-

A roundabout is an intersection with a central island around which traffic has

to travel in the counterclockwise direction and when the traffic enters the
roundabout then it must result in circulating traffic. Not all intersections are
classified as roundabouts.
The "modern roundabout" is often confused with older roundabouts and
traffic circles. The first documented traffic circle was built in 1905 at the
southwestern corner of Central Park in New York City and was named after
Christopher Columbus. From the start, traffic circles enabled a city to link
a number of streets and create a landscaped central circle that had an
esthetic value for the community. The older traffic circles enabled the high -
speed combination and weaving of vehicles, which led to a high crash.
The modern roundabout in the United Kingdom was developed to correct
problems associated with these traffic circles. In 1966, at all circular
intersections, the United Kingdom adopted a mandatory "give-way" rule
requiring the entry of traffic to give way to or return to circulating traffic. This
rule prevented circular intersections from locking up by preventing vehicles
from entering the intersection until sufficient traffic gaps existed.
Modern Roundabout:-
A modern roundabout is a circular one-way intersection with no traffic signals
flowing around a central island. Roundabouts have an incoming traffic
control system, channel approaches and appropriate geometric curvature to
ensure travel speeds on the circulatory roadway are typically less than 30
mph. Roundabouts must be designed to meet the needs of all users,
including drivers, pedestrians, disabled pedestrians and cyclists. When
designing roundabouts, special considerations must be given to the needs
of visually impaired pedestrians who cannot judge adequate traffic gaps.
Proper site selection and pedestrian channeling is essential for the
accessibility of roundabouts for all users. Roundabouts can also be designed
for trucks and larger vehicles and in geographical areas where snowfall is
normal during winter season.
Problem Statement:-
Safety Issue #1 Inadequate Entry Path Deflection
Due to inadequate entry path deflection the results are following:-
1- Speed of entry too fast.
2- Impacts pedestrian safety.
3- Entry/circulating crashes.
To determine the speed of the vehicle's track at the roundabout, it is
important to determine the maximum allowable (fastest) track speed of the
vehicle. The path depends on the proposed roundabout geometry. Therefore,
it is assumed during the determination of the vehicle track that there is no
traffic and no traffic lanes are marked. The path of the vehicle is
characterized by three radii of movement: the entry radius, the circulatory
road radius and the exit. The vehicle width is assumed to be 2.0 meters and
a minimum distance of 0.5 meters from the center of the road or concrete
kerb and the painted edge of the splinter island should be maintained.
Therefore, the imaginary vehicle route is 1.5 meters from the concrete kerb
and 1.0 meters from the painted line of the island of the splitter. The fastest
way to negotiate the roundabout is through a number of reverse paths (the
right - hand path follows the left - hand path and the right - hand path).
Accordingly, the methodology used to define the fastest vehicle track speed
for roundabouts does not provide truly expected vehicle operating speeds,
but rather a theoretically possible vehicle entry speed into the roundabout,
which is required during the roundabout. Real vehicle operating speeds can
differ greatly for a variety of reasons, including different axle loads and
vehicle features, individual driver capabilities and tolerance to gravity forces.
The consistency / invariability of the speed must be checked to achieve the
design speed that enables the fastest vehicle paths to be defined. The
consistency of speed contributes to higher traffic safety by reducing the
difference in speed between the conflicting flows of vehicles. It therefore
simplifies the task of combining vehicles into the conflicting stream of traffic,
minimizing critical gaps and thus optimizing the entry capacity. For each
approach, therefore, five critical radii must be checked: R1–the entry path
radius; R2–the circulating path radius; R3–the exit path radius; R4–the left
path radius; R 5 – the right path radius; (Figure 1). Note that these vehicle
path radii are not the same as the kerb radii.
 Figure-1: Vehicle path radii
R1 should be smaller than R2 during design and R2 smaller than R3 for the
fastest vehicle track. This ensures that the speed at the roundabout entry is
reduced to its lowest level and thus reduces the probability of accidents or
crashes. However, in examples where a R 1 value of less than R2 can not
be achieved, it is acceptable for R1 to be greater than R2, provided that the
maximum speed difference is less than 20 km / h. When designing mini and
small roundabouts with intense pedestrian traffic, exit radii should be the
same or slightly larger than R2. In order to ensure that the maximum speed
difference between the entry and circulating traffic is not more than 20 km /
h, the radius of the conflicting left - turn movement R4 must be evaluated.
The design speed for radius R5 should therefore be the maximum design
speed for the entire intersection and the design speed of R4 should not
exceed 20 km / h,