Probably the original original 'Magic Roundabout' (expression) came from
a 60's BBC children's animation TV show:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/timeshift/magic-roundabout.shtml
In this case a roundabout is a 'merry-go-round' or carousel and had some
cult following perhaps lending its use to traffic configurations.
But it in turn was based on a 1963 French show:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Roundabout
Robert C.
Robert Holmes wrote:
The original Magic Roundabout (there's a few of them in the UK now)
was in Swindon,
1972. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_(Swindon)
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Roundabout_%28Swindon%29>
So why don't they use roundabouts over here more frequently? In the UK
they prove to be much safer and have a higher throughput than traffic
light controlled junctions.
-- Robert
On Sat, Jul 18, 2009 at 9:33 AM, Robert J. Cordingley
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Following a brief discussion last Friday on roundabouts, here's
the Google Map/Satellite image of what's known as the 'Magic
Roundabout' in Hemel Hempstead (not Newport Pagnell as I thought
but I was right it is six sided).
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hemel+hempstead+uk&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.572881,53.876953&ie=UTF8&ll=51.746223,-0.473061&spn=0.001601,0.003288&t=k&z=18
<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hemel+hempstead+uk&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.572881,53.876953&ie=UTF8&ll=51.746223,-0.473061&spn=0.001601,0.003288&t=k&z=18>
Easy-peasy!
For history and background see:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A381089
Thanks
Robert C
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FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
