> Second shock comes from car commutes. South & East England is pretty flat. But the road network really needs an upgrade. For example, highway interchanges are often roundabouts (!) leading to absolutely massive jams.
Roundabouts are actually way more efficient than junctions (and a lot safer) because of the low speed. I can imagine it must have been a big shock coming from the US tho.
> Third thing is housing. Bad quality, and land controlled by a few leads to really high prices. Plus, low density and the aforementioned transport issues make it really hard to buy in cheap places that are a bit far away.
I mean the UK is a small place and supply/demand tells us the land is going to be expensive.
Roundabouts are fine for cars on slow to medium speed roads - 20 to 40mph at a push. But they are a lot less efficient for longer trips. You don't get roundabouts on motorways or big dual carriageways. Slip roads and grade-separated junctions - often grade-separated roundabouts - are more efficient for time.
Grade separated junctions also take up a lot of space and divide communities, so I'm not 100% in favour.
Not true. Motorway exits are normally a roundabout, with busiest exit slip roads traffic light controlled. Sometimes the roundabout is broken up with more extensive lights. A defining characteristic of motorways is the absence of junctions on the actual motorway.
Dual carriageways sometimes adopt a motorway approach, with traffic light controlled slips, but are mainly roundabouts for junctions. It's been a while, but even on the A1, outside the A1M bits.
There's a slip road on and off the motorway and a roundabout at the end of motorway restrictions. That is straight into a roundabout. There are no junctions on motorways themselves. That was the whole point.
Roundabouts are actually way more efficient than junctions (and a lot safer) because of the low speed. I can imagine it must have been a big shock coming from the US tho.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4PW66_g6XA&t=507s
> Third thing is housing. Bad quality, and land controlled by a few leads to really high prices. Plus, low density and the aforementioned transport issues make it really hard to buy in cheap places that are a bit far away.
I mean the UK is a small place and supply/demand tells us the land is going to be expensive.