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Hemel Hempstead has a new £2m roundabout which gives priority to pedestrians and cyclists over motor vehicles.
BBC London reporter Briohny Willams has a look and learns how to use the roundabout from a driver perspective.
Next, a new roundabout may not sound like anything particularly special, but a new Dutch style one in Heml Hempstead might just be the talk of the town. Let me explain. This is what it looked like before. A regular roundabout we’re all pretty used to seeing where drivers give way on the right. Well, this is what it looks like today. There’s a dedicated space around the entire junction for cyclists. You can see it in green. separated from the vehicle traffic. Now, the point is that it gives priority to pedestrians, then cyclists, then drivers. Well, today people in the area have been getting to grips with the new layout. One of them is our reporter Brian Williams who has spent the day there. Hi, Bry. Tell us more. Hi there. Well, they’re called Dutchstyle roundabouts because they were created in the Netherlands and they’re very common there, but here in the UK, they’re still fairly novel. And as you mentioned, they prioritize non-motorized users, so pedestrians and cyclists. On the approach, you wouldn’t necessarily notice anything different. It’s only when you get closer that you can see the zebra crossings and, as you mentioned, that green path for cyclists. This one has been open for less than 24 hours and it’s had a mixed reception. This is a Dutchstyle roundabout along Boundary Way in Heml Hempstead. It’s only the fourth to be built in the country and gives pedestrians highest priority over other users like bikes and cars. The aim is to make it safer for walkers and cyclists. It works as a normal roundabout except you actually have around it a cycle lane which uh most are to give way to and a pedestrian route all the way around it. So actually you’re segregating those and making it safer for pedestrians and cyclists to cross on a busy roundabout junction which has a lot of HV traffic here at the moment and have increased HV traffic and motor use in the future. But a similar roundabout in Cambridge saw more collisions in the first few years after it opened. So to try and help road users navigate this layout, Hertfordshire County Council published a video guide online which has been viewed over 20,000 times. It’s to stop scenarios like this from happening. So what do drivers need to be aware of? We do approach it and go round it the same way. Exactly the same way as normal. Yeah. If I was turning left, it would be mirrors, signal. It’s all about getting the speed down early, selecting a low gear. So, you’ve done everything and then you’ve got loads of time to be looking, but you’re looking in a case in this sense three places as opposed to the normal one. So, you got the cycle lane, pedestrians, then cars. Same again, leaving got to be particularly cautious for cyclists again and pedestrians. Years in the planning and at a cost of around2 million, the roundabout has its critics. I run the highways people up when they were doing this and I said nobody uses this except lorries tankers and us to get out of mainland and the caravan people. There’s never any cyclists. Maybe at the weekend that’s it. Do you think the money should where do you think the money should be spent? Tarmacing. This is industrial area but just lries big lorries driving here and just too narrow I think. What do you think the money could have been spent on? Uh I don’t know on the kids on the on the schools better. The council believes it’s futureproofing the town and will make it greener and cleaner. When I’m on the road, road biking, it’s pretty dangerous, especially along the A- roads, this sort of stuff. Brilliant. Will it make it safer in Heml Hempstead and encourage more people to get on their bikes? The impact of this project is yet to be determined. Bry Williams, BBC London.