How to Navigate Roundabouts
Learn more about roundabouts, including locations on campus, how to navigate them, and how they help reduce confusion and improve safety for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
"While these roundabouts enable more efficient vehicular circulation, more importantly, they reduce confusion for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians and transform large asphalt intersections into welcoming landscape features."
- David Lenox, University Architect and Director of Campus Planning
Roundabouts on Stanford's Main Campus
A list of roundabouts with illustrations of each roundabout.
| Locations | Completion Dates | Illustrations |
|---|---|---|
| Galvez Street and Arboretum Road | Opened in October 2018 | 
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| Serra Street and Campus Drive East | Opened in August 2018 | 
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| Galvez Street and Campus Drive | Opened in July 2016 | 
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| Escondido Road and Campus Drive | Opened in September 2014 | 
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| Bowdoin Street and Campus Drive | Opened in September 2015 | 
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| Santa Teresa Street and Campus Drive | Opened in September 2015 | 
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About Campus Roundabouts
Goals of the Roundabout
There are several goals for roundabouts at Stanford:
- Enable more efficient vehicular circulation
- Reduce confusion for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians
- Blend aesthetically with The Farm's Campus Drive, rural parkway character.
Instead of requiring vehicles to come to a complete stop and determine who has the right of way, vehicles and bicycles should now be able to flow in a slow but continuous and safe manner to their destinations.
The Decision and Approach
As part of Stanford's decision, the university consulted traffic engineers, evaluated traffic models, and listened to testimonials from other communities.
After comparing metrics for four-way stop signs, roundabouts, and traffic signals, the university concluded that the roundabout serves as the most efficient means for vehicle circulation and provides a sensible solution for pedestrians and bicyclists at campus intersections.
Stanford engaged an expert in international roundabout design to develop the criteria for roundabouts on campus and, specifically, for the Campus Drive and Escondido Road intersection.
Project Team:
Partners:
Roundabout FAQs
1. What is a roundabout?
A roundabout is a type of circular intersection with yield control of entering traffic, islands on the approaches, and appropriate roadway curvature to reduce vehicle speeds.
Modern roundabouts are different from rotaries and other traffic circles. For example, roundabouts are typically smaller than the large, high-speed rotaries still in use in some part of the country. In addition, roundabouts are typically larger than neighborhood traffic circles used to calm traffic.
2. Why a roundabout?
Compared to other types of intersections, roundabouts have demonstrated safety and other benefits. Roundabouts:
- Improve safety
- More than 90% reduction in fatalities [1]
- 76% reduction in injuries [2]
- 35% reduction in all crashes [2]
- Slower speeds are generally safer for pedestrians
- Reduce congestion
- Typically less delay
- Efficient during both peak hours and other times
- Reduce pollution and fuel use
- Fewer stops and hard accelerations, less time idling
- Save money
- Often no signal equipment to install, power, and maintain
- Smaller roundabouts may require less right-of-way than traditional intersections
- Often less pavement needed
- Complement other common community values
- Quieter operation
- Functional and aesthetically pleasing
3. How do I navigate a roundabout?
There are just a few simple guidelines to remember when driving through a roundabout:
- Slow down.
- Yield to pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Yield at the entry to circulating traffic.
- Stay in your lane within the roundabout and use your right-turn signal to indicate your intention to exit.
- Always assume trucks need all available space — don't pass them!
- Clear the roundabout to allow emergency vehicles to pass.
Source: Roundabouts: An Informational Guide. Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., latest version, except as noted.
[1] "Safety Effect of Roundabout Conversions in the United States: Empirical Bayes Observational Before-After Study." Transportation Research Record 1751, Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Washington, D.C., 2001. [2] NCHRP Report 572: Roundabouts in the United States. National Cooperative Highway Research Program, TRB, NAS, Washington, D.C., 2007.
Comments and Questions
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