Description
The new roundabout here at Tricentenial Drive and Fuller Road has alleviated a lot of traffic at this busy intersection.
However, motorists driving south on Fuller Road are dangerously weaving from the right lane into the left lane while trying to continue south on Fuller Road!
They get caught in the right lane which goes into the UAlbany Freedom Quad headed northwest, and then wrecklessly jam over into the left lane when they realize they are in the incorrect lane for through-motions.
Perhaps Fuller Road should be redesigned again, to allow for 2 continuous lanes from Washington Avenue south, with clearly-marked "RIGHT TURN ONLY" signs and pavement arrows along the entire section, in order to more-efficiently signal that the right lane is for turns into the Freedom Quad complex ONLY.
10 Comments
anonymous (Guest)
Drivers are STILL hanging in the right lane until the last second and cutting left when they realize they don't want to go into the Freedom Quad driveway!! Can't the right lane be continued from Washington Avenue to the roundabout, with clear signage saying "RIGHT TURN ONLY" so that we don't have this dangerous situation anymore?!?!?!
RPS
I've seen several roundabouts that were built facing a similar safety hazard where folks believed the far right lane would continue around the roundabout only to find that it veers off right to an undesired location (in this case the Freedom Quad driveway). A simple fix I've seen instituted is the establishment of orange concrete piers which separate the left lane merging into the roundabout from the right lane veering off from the roundabout, forcing drivers to look at the signage for indication on which was to go. I guess it will take a serious accident for this fix to be made, unfortunately.
Me (Guest)
If they are doing it wrecklessly, then what is the problem? Or do you mean recklessly, as in without reckoning?
anonymous (Guest)
People still dart over from the right lane in front of the people in the left lane. 9/17/12.
Joe
Now that it's been there a while, I thought people would learn from their mistake and keep left to go straight. Apparently not. But on the opposite, northbound side of Fuller, isn't there a separator between straight traffic and traffic going into the campus, like RPS described above? That seems to work without problems and should have been done on both sides. I hope there is room to modify the southbound lanes in this fashion (without having to wait 10 years for it).
anonymous (Guest)
The problem is that when drivers come into the roundabout from Washington Ave., the lanes go from 2 lanes into 1. And the sign says, "LEFT LANE ENDS". Ok, so to me that means everyone needs to move to the RIGHT. Ok, so then everyone moves to the RIGHT, but then there's a concrete curb there, just before the roundabout, and then everyone moves LEFT again. Drivers who want to go STRAIGHT or LEFT now have no idea which lane they want to be in when they get into the roundabout! So then the drivers who were in the right lane BEFORE they got into the roundabout try to get back into the right lane to go STRAIGHT, but then the lane turns RIGHT into Freedom Quad! By the time drivers reach the roundabout, they have no clue which lane goes which direction!
I still have no idea why the approach into the roundabout coming from Washington Avenue wasn't just left as 2 lanes in the same direction, so that there isn't this RACE-BRAKE-WEAVE-MERGE-WEAVE-BRAKE-MERGE situation there all the time.
It would have been much better leaving it as 2 lanes directly into the roundabout with signs saying "RIGHT LANE - FREEDOM QUAD ONLY".
Joe
Ah, I forgot about the two lanes narrowing to one. It's such a short distance, why couldn't they keep two lanes to the roundabout? Then they could design the curbs like the opposite side. Look at this: http://goo.gl/maps/DOFnc . It looks like they could have easily kept it two lanes and put in a triangle to force a right turn from the right lane! It would be nice if someone involved in the design could chime in here and say why this can or can't be done.
I agree with everything you say, except a lot of people don't know what FREEDOM QUAD means (I didn't know until just now), and the sign should say CNSE or CESTM too.
anonymous (Guest)
This is one of the classic examples of how infrastructure projects are just built and then left without any further study whatsoever in the future. It's the same situation with the new Exit 6 SPUI interchange in Latham... It was built only 1 1/2 years ago, and now there is one whole section at the northeast side northbound ramp where about half a dozen lights are out! And I can't get anyone to fix them! Furthermore, I have been trying to research just how much that new interchange has impacted traffic conditions, either positive or negative. The studies PRIOR to the construction are everywhere and are easily accessible. However there is absolutely NOTHING published anywhere about an "after-study" on how traffic has changed due to this new configuration of the interchange.
It is the same with the Fuller Road/Tricentennial Drive roundabout! It's like they just built it and left it, and don't CARE about the carnage (or almost carnage) that's happening there because of the shoddy approach design!!!
Closed City of Albany Admin
Thank you for using SeeClickFix. The City of Albany has officially subscribed to this service and has launched a new custom mobile application and website widget, available for download beginning today, May 7, 2013. Therefore, old issues are being closed out so that the City can begin using this system.
To download the application, please visit:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seeclickfix.albany.app
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/albanyworks4u/id635011566?mt=8
More information is also available at: www.albanyny.gov
City of Albany Admin
Thank you for using SeeClickFix. The City of Albany has officially subscribed to this service and has launched a new custom mobile application and website widget, available for download beginning today, May 7, 2013. Therefore, old issues are being closed out so that the City can begin using this system.
To download the application, please visit:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seeclickfix.albany.app
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/albanyworks4u/id635011566?mt=8
More information is also available at: www.albanyny.gov