Good ideas gone bad

Sorry for the recent lull in posts on the blog. I've been a bit busy and hadn't really had anything to say. I mean there is only so much I can complain about in life before I'm really starting to reach. So with that in mind, it's time to complain yet again...hey, I've said it before, I'm pretty much a one trick pony. Anyway, where's the fun in reading about how great my life is or how boring my work days can be?

Now I'm not too sure about you, but having lived in North America all my life there haven't been many times when I've encountered a roundabout (or traffic circle) while driving/biking. In fact it wasn't until I moved to Edmonton that I ever recall encountering any. I have to admit that I like them, they speed up the flow of traffic through the intersection. A "hidden" aspect of them that you only notice if you are on a bike, is that they are banked which makes them a lot faster when cornering and more fun on a bike...and yes, I know that I'm obsessed, no I don't have a problem, YOU have the problem...there, it needed to be said.

That being said, some people don't like them. I've seen more than a few people kind of panic when entering the circle, and let's face it most people in North America don't know the rules to traffic circles. I remember talking to a guy on a bike ride about them. He told me the story of when he got to Edmonton for the first time after driving in from British Columbia. Apparently he got to a traffic circle and didn't realize it (hey, he was from BC, they have great pot out there) and drove straight through, fucking up his axle when he hit the cement island in the middle.

So yeah, at times roundabouts can cause trouble for some people. Hell, I'll be the first to admit that I even have trouble with them at times. No, I don't get scared and stuck in the inner circle like Chevy Chase in a National Lampoon movie. What throws me off is when there are traffic lights (or stop signs) in a traffic circle. Now, I'm not city planner or civil engineer (a.k.a. target builder) but isn't the purpose of the traffic circle to eliminate the need to have traffic lights?

The strange thing is that I have seen one with lights in Edmonton and there is one with stop signs right on the university campus right here in Minneapolis. This one is even taken to a new level of stupidity. Not only are there stop signs to confuse things, but there is also a bus stop! Who the hell uses a traffic circle for a bus stop? Plus the bus stop is right beside the stop sign, hiding the cars on the inner circle from those trying to enter the circle. It's just a damn good thing that isn't a very heavily trafficed area.

Sure sometimes the combination of two things provides great results: ice cream and chocolate sauce, my legs and a bicycle, the internet and pornography...the list is endless, however it doesn't include traffic lights and traffic circles. I just pity any European who comes across one of those traffic circles...well maybe the European doesn't need the pity, I think the North American who is scared shit less when the European blows through the light/sign could use some pitying.