Meridith Rt 106/Rt 3 roundabout

[OFD232]

Ok maybe I' m crazy and maybe I'm just a little cranky after driving thru Boston everyday but to come to my favorite longtime family escape cottage in Meredith and find a "roundabout" under construction, who came up with the idea of a "roundabout" here. Did all the traffic engineers who developed the big dig move north to escape the aftermath or what. Personally roundabouts look suspiciously like Rotaries which State of Ma just spent millions getting rid of at the other quaint New england summer destination called Care Cod. Time to replace the ICE out contest with a "roundabout rodeo" ?????? Guess how many accidents occur during Memorial day-Labor day period and get a free ICE OUT guess. Again maybe I'm just a little crazy but the lights at the end of 104 and route 3 work fine why not repeat that instead of a roundabout, but maybe its designed to slow cars down so the traffic Bermuda triangle at Rt 3 and 25 will not seem as bad.
Oh and by the way I'm still unhappy that Frankensundae is gone too somebody call me a WAAAAMbulance
Have a great summer all and stay safe.

[fatlazyless]

New Hampshire is building at least four round-abouts now, two in Keene, one in Plymouth, and the one in Meredith. I hear that after 75 years, the famous Cape Cod rotary in Bourne on the west side of the canal bridge has been replaced with an underpass-overpass. So, if you want little traffic and scenic roads try New Hampshire up north above the Old Man of the Mountain.

[OFD232]

Ok I'll go further nnorth buy I'M TAKING Lake WINNI WITH me. THink anyone will notice

[JTA]

I personally would like to move Winni furthur south so that we could have an earlier ice-out.
Hey .... lots of changes up here (most for the worse). I really miss the old wooden bouy markers.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by OFD232

"...but to come to my favorite longtime family escape cottage in Meredith and find a "roundabout" under construction, who came up with the idea of a "roundabout" here..."

There may still be a bumper sticker available that reads "Drive with Courtesy: it's the New Hampshire Way".

What were they thinking?

Not just in rural areas, rotaries (roundabouts in England) are being added in cities as a "traffic-taming device".

As a passenger visiting a city where a slightly elevated (to curb height) 20' rotary had been recently added, I watched as the car ahead drove directly through the middle of it! (Coral Gables, FL).

In the same city, officials installed a pair of commemorative concrete statues in the middle their oldest rotary which, at 80' in diameter and three feet tall, was a very intimidating "traffic-taming device".

Yup, somebody took out those statues with their truck one night.

[SAMIAM]

I think a traffic circle is a perfect solution for the backup at Parade rd/rt3. because the traffic slows down to merge at a circle,but always keeps moving...unlike the summer and bike week days when it backs up endlessly.
I travel that road almost every day and I've got to compliment whoever is running that job.Don't know if it's state or local level where the decisions are made but they have had two lanes open since the start of the project and traffic has moved very well.Rarely. a brief delay.

[vrrooom]

I can only grin when I think of my many trips to work down Rt 1 in Mass, rotary after rotary. Don't look left or right, don't make eye contact, possesion is 9/10 ths of the law, jump in let them stop its not my problem, if they hit you they are at fault - must maintian control of vehicle at all times. Da Rules of the roundabout road come to Meridith at a Mickie Dees near you
To repeat, this is a cheep fix, not a solution to the traffic problem.

[Weirs guy]

Rumor has it that next up is dysfunction junction at the Weirs. I'd propose another roundabout there too!

[Dave R]

Having lived in England for awhile, where they despise the idea of stop signs , I must say that I'm a big fan of roundabouts. Especially the large, multi-lane types that you can safely navigate at 40+ MPH. Imagine if every intersection allowed the option of not stopping if no other cars (with the right of way) were present. That's how it is with roundabouts.

People around here really should learn how to use them. No lie, I saw someone stop and back up after she missed her turn on the Auburn NH roundabout once.

[JayDV]

Our family joke about the rotaries is "Look kids, Parliament, Big Ben again" (from Nat'l Lampoon's European Vacation). Depending on the amount of lanes and the amount of merges and egress (?) make them easy or difficult. NJ has those jug-handles (a quick scoot to the right and a loop back to the stoplight to go straight across-instead of a left turn lane). CT has the abundance of stop signs on secondary roads or timed stop lights on primary and state routes. Invariably the direction I am heading in is always the long wait for the light to change. but all things considered, the inconvenience of rotaries, roundabouts, stop signs and lights are by far preferred over the 3 or 4 lane highways with 65 mph limits and traffic crawls at 5mph that we all travel through at some point during our treks.

[winniplayhouse]

I lived in England for five years. One of the primary reasons I never got my driver's license over there is that being an American I have no idea how to handle roundabouts with the skill of the Brits. When I was taking lessons over there (having driven over here for years) I would get nervous everytime I got in the vicinity of a roundabout. I have to drive the 106/3 junction at least twice a day. I'm not looking forward to it. Although I can't wait to hear by husband yell "damn American!" everytime he drives that way. It will be interesting...
I have to agree that I've been very impressed with the way they've handled the construction. I'm driving daily all around that area between going to work and turning onto Reservoir Rd to get to Kidworks. They've been great at keeping traffic moving.

[MWSP]

That roundabout looks very small and narrow to me. Using the granite curbing on the south side as a guide, I would think anyone towing a trailer is going to have some issues getting around it.

[OFD232]

I will agree that the builders do an excellant job at keeping the traffic flow moving. Its afterwards when they are gone and the job is finished And some of our not so observent fellow vacationers who have a Little too much truth serum from a local establishment decide its an optical delusion.

[angela4design]

Check out the full story from the public works department, along with landscaping plans and the whole deal:

http://meredithnh.org/projects.php

"There will be no work after 2 p.m. on Fridays during May, June, September and October and no work in the roadway on Fridays during July and August."

Fantastic...

[donnamatrix]

Wow. Thanks for the links. The aerial views (before and after) are extremely helpful. I just hope they are not doing any kind of construction during Bike Week.

[OFD232]

Thanks thats a great website. Very informative , Hope it works as well as they think, Us Metro Boston Area types get nervous with traffic issues especially after the little project we had down here called the "Big Dig"

[Weirs guy]

Originally Posted by JayDV

Our family joke about the rotaries is "Look kids, Parliament, Big Ben again" (from Nat'l Lampoon's European Vacation).

My poor kids spent years looking out the window saying "where daddy, and what is parliament?"

[abay]

My biggest concern with a rotary/round-about is the placement of yield signs. I always think of the confusing signs on the Alton Circle, which when traffic is heavy can create some pretty interesting scenarios.

In fact, just a "yield" sign itself is a problem. Too many people have no idea what they mean and/or how to observe them.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by abay

My biggest concern with a rotary/round-about is the placement of yield signs. I always think of the confusing signs on the Alton Circle, which when traffic is heavy can create some pretty interesting scenarios.

That's a mess. Half of the entrances to that "circle" have the right of way. That's not how it's supposed to be and I think it's poorly executed. There really should not even be a need for yield signs in a proper traffic circle, people should know that cars in the circle have the right of way, and in multi-lane circles: that the far right lane is off limits to cars in the circle and only available to cars taking their first right. It's pretty logical.


Here's an example of roundabout logic taken a bit too far, in my opinion.

Swindon's magic roundabout:

[AC2717]

great confuse them somemore with a British rotary. that is really a stupid rotary there lol.


My father and I were always in the belief that traffic signs and signals were only there for people that did not use common sense while driving, because that is all that it is.

[mcdude]

Originally Posted by abay

I always think of the confusing signs on the Alton Circle, which when traffic is heavy can create some pretty interesting scenarios.

Big bucks have been approved to redesign and rebuild the alton rotary.

[T.H.E. Binz]

Anyone who has spent time driving in England will appreciate the attempt by the NHDOT to construct some roundabouts. More fuel efficient and safer. However, they might want to post conspicuous signs indicating that vehicles in the roundabout have the right-of-way; otherwise, it's chaos!

[John A. Birdsall]

they ought to put a roundabout around Gov. Island and Littlemark Island for boats, now wouldn't that be fun