Roundabout constructed in 1972 in Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, designed by Frank Blackmore, inventor of the mini-roundabout. The roundabout joins five roads and consists of a two-way road around the central island, with five mini-roundabouts meeting the incoming roads. The name derives from the popular children's television series, "The Magic Roundabout", and is considered "magic" because traffic flows in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. This is achieved by surrounding the main island with one smaller roundabout per entry/exit street. This pattern directs traffic in the usual clockwise (in LHT installations) or counter-clockwise (in RHD installations) manner around each mini-roundabout. Exiting the
Roundabout first modern roundabout in the United States was constructed in Summerlin, Nevada in 1990. This roundabout occasioned dismay from residents, and a local news program said about it, "Even police agree, [roundabouts] can be confusing at times." As of the beginning of the twenty-first century, roundabouts were in widespread use in Europe. For instance, in 2010 France had more than 30,000 roundabouts. A "modern roundabout" is a type of looping junction in which road traffic travels in one direction around a central island and priority is given to the circulating flow. Signs usually direct traffic entering the circle to slow