Georgetown Enamored with Traffic Circles

It looks like the City has embraced the traffic circle. They plan on installing two on the upcoming Rivery Blvd extension which connects Williams Drive to Northwest Blvd and the new bridge to be constructed over I35

Here is a graphic depicting a traffic circle.

As you can observe this particular traffic circle has two lanes that circulate around the circle intersecting with feeder streets.

As long as the traffic is light, these concepts work well, however, they become points of congestion and driver frustration when the traffic is heavy.

These devices are particularly problematic at night unless they are extremely well lighted and/or the drivers are familiar with their entrance and exit locations.

Check out this nightmare!

Hopefully we will not see this level of traffic congestion in Georgetown for a very long time, but, it does raise the question if traffic circles are a good idea.