The Centre Does Not Hold: Rotaries In Massachusetts

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

What is a rotary? What is a roundabout? What's the difference between them?

Basically, all of them are intersections that direct both turning and through traffic onto a circular, one-way road. Yes, I pasted that from Wikipedia.

The basic ideas behind rotaries are:
- simplifying the driver's visual environment
- allowing visual engagement
- encouraging deference to pedestrians
- reducing driver confusion
- allowing U-turns within the normal flow of traffic
- lowering idling and braking episodes, leading to less pollution and lower engine/brake wear
- lessening the need to brake, thus lessening the need to accelerate, thus saving fuel and lowering emissions
- lowering traffic noise associated with other intersections where cars have to stop fully
- eliminating perpendicular, T-bone crashes
- lessening gridlock associated with stoplight-style intersections.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Rotaries have been around longer than cars have, and had their start in Europe. At least one was operational in England in 1786, presumably for horses. Why, that there Arc de Triomphe in France is built with a roundabout. Older roundabouts have different entry and operational methods than modern ones... but since they're in Europe, we can just skip right over that, right?

Half of the world's roundabouts are in France, while the UK has the most as a proportion to roads. France, which is about the size of Texas, has 30,000 roundabouts. If the Nazis believed in yielding to rotary traffic, WWII might still be ongoing. Rotaries became popular in America, and many were built as Great Depression busy work.

I'm not sure what we have on Cape Cod. The definitions get sort of touchy. For starters, "rotary," "roundabout," "traffic circle" and "road circle" are all listed as synonyms in American dictionaries.  Massachusetts people all use the wrong term, as our "rotaries" require people to yield to the traffic in the circle, thus making them, technically, "roundabouts."

However, our roundabouts often have an interior lane, which makes them rotaries.

A rotary by any other name still acts like a roundabout. It's like most things in life.... what is SUPPOSED to happen isn't always what DOES happen.

Buzzards Bay, MA

Rotaries and roundabouts were adopted fom the European model into the United States in large numbers in the early-mid 20th Century. By the mid 20th, they were also being removed in large numbers. Those presentations where they tell you that rotaries are safer and more efficient often match up poorly with the reality of wild collisions and LA-style traffic jams in small towns.

Pretty soon, only Massachusetts had roundabouts remaining in any great number. Wikipedia has two lists of notable American rotaries... one for America, and one for Massachusetts.

Sullivan Square in Charlestown? That's a roundabout. Same goes with Neponset Circle in Dorchester, Old Colony Rotary in Southie, the 18/28/44 rotary with the Friendly's in Middleboro... you get the picture.

Harvard Square, which you think would be square, has a roundabout. Hall's Corner in Duxbury is a roundabout, even though I'm pretty sure that circles don't have corners. I smoked a lot of dat cheeaba in high school, and there's a chance that I was staring at leg when someone was teaching me the geology or whatever it was that you need to know  when thinking about stuff like that.

Maybe all of those stories about crazy Boston drivers are wrong, and we are the only drivers in America skilled enough to handle rotaries.

Yeah, I don't believe that either.

Duxbury, MA

Maybe we're too overcrowded and/or cheap to replace rotaries. It can be done, but said rotary has to offend a powerful man like Mitt Romney. Mitt had or has a Cape place, and wasted a lot of time that he could have been using to vulture-capitalize some poor business stuck in the traffic that preceded the Sagamore Rotary going onto Cape Cod.

Rotaries almost always laugh last in these situations, unless the Mitt Romney in question became Governor of Massachusetts. Buh-bye Sagamore Rotary, hello Sagamore Flyover, total cost = $50 million.

But worry you not... the Bourne Bridge has TWO rotaries, so everything balances.

Sagamore was jammed before the Flyover, and Sagamore is jammed after the Flyover. Bourne, which carries half of the traffic Sagamore does, suffers less. In 1991, when Hurricane Bob stormed at Cape Cod, there were 20 mile backups at the Sagamore Rotary. I've also seen traffic backed up from Sagamore to at least Exit 6 on Route 6 at 11 PM during typical Sunday night summer fleeing.

Rotaries were a great idea on Cape Cod back when we were 20,000 farmers and fishermen. Our population is 200,000 now, and it doubles on summer weekends. Buzzards Bay, which has 3000 souls or so on any given day, has megalopolis-level traffic twice a weekend for June, July, August and parts of September. People who live in Boston or Brooklyn dread driving through here.

Buzzards Bay, MA

There are Rules to the roundabout, which are on the books somewhere and can be accessed online. These come from government agencies, and work just fine.... in theory.

There are also Methods to a roundabout. These are taught to you by motorheads, well-sited gas station attendants and other locals. We'll get to those in a moment.

Here are the official rules, from the Massachusetts RMV:

Rotary Traffic Rules

Traffic travels counter-clockwise in a rotary. Always yield the right-of-way to vehicles already
in the rotary (unless told differently by signs or police officers) and to pedestrians. Use your
turn signals in the same way as any other intersection. Travel through the rotary and, when
you are ready to exit, use your right turn signal.

Choosing a Lane
If the rotary has a single lane, you must enter from the right lane of the road you are
coming from. You must exit onto the right lane of the road you intend to travel on.
If the rotary has multiple lanes, look for signs to help you choose the proper lane. If there
are no signs, you should do the following:

• For a quarter-turn, or to continue straight ahead, enter the rotary from the right lane.
Stay in that lane, and exit onto the right lane.

• For a three-quarter-turn, or a U-turn, enter the rotary from the left lane. Travel through
the middle or inner lane. Exit onto the right lane. If coming from a road with a single
lane, you should stay in the right lane for the entire turn.

In a multiple-lane rotary, there may be traffic on both sides of your vehicle. Do not attempt
to move out of your lane until it is safe to do so. If you miss your exit, don’t get upset.
Check the traffic around you. If it is safe to do so, go around again and position your vehicle
to properly and safely exit the rotary.

Do not stop in the rotary.

Bourne/Wareham line, MA

In reality... well, let's talk to a few experts, shall we?

Our experts in this case are:

1) A desk clerk at a rotary hotel. He is here because he, more than perhaps anyone on Cape Cod, must explain rotaries to people from out of state.

2) A police officer from Duxbury, a town full of old people which has (relatively) recently put a roundabout up at an intersection that had been a normal cross intersection since Myles Standish rode over it.

3) A guy who has been pumping gas at a Cape Cod rotary for 20 years, with a clear view of all the mayhem and a clear mind with which to remember crash stories.

4) A math teacher who is good with numbers and formulae.

5) A few expert drivers in niche fields, i.e. trucker, biker, chronic speeder, guy who drives in a demolition derby now and then...

Rather than to attempt to impose any order on this, I feel it would be best to hit you in a sort of stream-of-consciousness manner. I'm going to end the article with this, as little I can say will top the wisdom you can gain from these quotes from the experts.

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Hyannis, MA

"The problem is layered, but simple. Massachusetts is the only state with extensive rotary use. Cape Cod is a tourist area, and attracts out-of-state people. They all meet in the rotary.

People are pulling into that rotary who have no idea what a rotary is, or even what a ROUNDABOUT AHEAD sign means. They are meeting up there with the only people in America who truly understand how to drive in rotaries... the locals.

The locals know that the only rule in the rotary is Make Your Own Law. Yes, the people who know rotaries the best have a tendency to work them aggressively, which goes poorly with the more tentative approach used by the tourists."

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"The best way to work a rotary is by viewing it like stealing second in a baseball game. Take a slight lead, pick your spot, and explode into the gap. Drive THROUGH the target, just like sliding into the base. Never stop once you commit.

 If you are driving a big rig, you want to work more along the lines of how goal-line offenses are run in the NFL. Lower your head, power straight through, and count on Physics. "

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"Once you are in the rotary... never surrender the outer lane. If someone crashes into you trying to get to Rte 28 from an inner lane, it's their fault."

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"Drivers will always yield to things that can crush them."

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"Massachusetts drivers blast into the rotary without stopping. New Yorkers do the same, but they do so without looking. Connecticut drivers are sort of an amalgamation of the worst traits of both. Everyone else in the country is worse, save for people from NASCAR states, who sort of get the idea... unless it snows."

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"We had an old guy from Nebraska who coudn't get into the rotary, abandoned his car at the merge, sought me out and asked me, in a Nebraska/old guy manner, 'WTF?' I ended up pulling out into the rotary length-wise, blocking traffic so that he could get onto 28 South. I don't know what happened to him after that."

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"I saw a guy drive around the rotary 4 times, pull into my station, and ask which exit the f***ing tunnel was off."

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"We had a lady turn left into one, but I managed to block the lane and get her to stop before she killed someone."

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"Don't set out to wreck somebody, but don't be afraid to."

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"It is better to Cause the impact than to be impacted upon. Ideally, your rear end will be hitting his driver-side door.
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"If you cause an accident and have to flee for some reason, you can do a U-turn off the Bourne Bridge by taking one of the non-28 exits and looping under the Bourne Bridge. People will be pointing the cops west while you're appearing (and then disappearing) on the east."

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"Yóu can stomp the gas pedal to the floor for about 4 seconds and not be technically speeding in most non-modified cars, as long as you use the 28 exit off the rotary instead of the Trowbridge Road one."

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"Using turn signals in a rotary is akin to aiding the enemy in times of war."

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"People entering a rotary are vulnerable to being T-boned on the driver-side door. You should remember this, plan for it, and take advantage of it whenever possible."

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"If you have a large set, you can skip the rotary by cutting through the State Police barracks. They love it, especially when you do wheelies."

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"If you really have to throw your coffee at another car in the rotary, make note of what lane you are in. If you're in the outer lane throwing at a car in the inner lane, you have to lead him a bit or you'll soak someone innocent driving behind the targeted vehicle. If you're in the inner lane, you have to actually throw across your own windshield."

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"Never complain to a Massachusetts cop that they don't have rotaries where you live. It encourages contempt."

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"Old people who don't get to this side of town much tend to just plow right through the roundabout when coming up Rte 14. Some are even aware that they are refusing to yield at a roundabout, and say that they can do so because they were here before the roundabout was. It's nice to see someone putting the 'grandfather' back into 'grandfather clause.'" 

Bourne, MA

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"Europeans, who you'd think would be better at roundabouts, instead are shocked to see one in America, especially if they have visited a few states and assume no that America has no roundabouts. Instinct takes over, and the English ones are very prone to taking a left into it. I see it happen about once a summer."

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"If you think the police are going to pull you over for something, get into the rotary and refuse to exit. The cop will think you're a tourist, and may even run interference for you just to get you out of his territory."

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"Only drive over the island as a last resort. Re-entry will be hazardous and you'll be operating from a disadvantage."

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"The guy with the Missouri plates is going to drive broadside across the 28 South rotary exit without leaving the rotary, as sure as the sun will set tonight."

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"Rotary clubs tend to meet in square rooms."

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"I just want it on the Internet somewhere that they should have put the tugboat in Buzzards Bay into the middle of the Belmont Circle rotary. Since they already screwed up that, they should seek to acquire another tugboat.

If your rotary doesn't have something cool and distinctive in the middle of it, your rotary sucks."

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"A large truck is perfectly within the law using both lanes of the rotary, and they are also allowed to use the shoulder with impunity."

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"Very few fistfights break out at rotaries, as it is difficult to pull over in one. You can also be edged out of the rotary by a near-miss. You might have to turn around in Pocasset to catch and fight someone who pissed you off at the Buzzards Bay rotary."

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"Almost all skidding in rotaries during snow events involve the back end sliping out and veering to the right. This can be capitalized upon to make fast exits. Remember to turn into the skid, it will align you properly."

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"If you cause an accident, never stop in the rotary. Direct the other driver into a safe area, allow him to enter first... then once he commits, stay in the rotary and flee at high speeds. Even if he gets back out fast, he'll never catch you."

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"If you have the outer lane, you can give the other driver the finger more efficiently. If you throw the bird out the window from the inner lane, the other guy won't see it, and the only ones who will be impressed are those CAPE COD bushes."

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"If they ever run a NASCAR race across Cape Cod, the rotaries would be the best part. We might need a 3rd and 4th generation of Earnhardts, especially if it snows"

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"If you are going really, really fast (slightly above 761 mph), you can stay in the rotary, honk your horn, and catch up to the sound. If you want to give yourself the finger and see yourself doing it, you have to go into the rotary at like 671 million mph."

Bourne, MA

Movies with rotaries include:

European Vacation,

The Great Escape,

The Dukes Of Hazzard,

Ronin,

and just about anything with James Bond, Bridget Jones or that Transporter dude.