Why roundabouts are increasingly seen as an answer to suburban traffic problems

They’ve long been seen as an overseas oddity, roundly mocked on TV’s “The Simpsons” and in the Chevy Chase comedy “National Lampoon’s European Vacation.” But roundabouts are increasingly popping up in parts of the suburbs.

Government planners say they’re often a better way to handle traffic where streets converge and diverge.

For those too square to know what one is, roundabouts are “a circular intersection where drivers travel counterclockwise around a center island,” according to one definition that goes on to explain that drivers approaching one of the junctions “yield at entry to traffic” and “then enter the intersection and exit at their desired street.”

They’re often considered safer and more efficient than traditional intersections with stop signs or stoplights. That’s if they’re put in the right place with the right design, experts say.

One spot they’re not necessarily great: tight, congested areas, which is why the city of Chicago hasn’t been keen on them.

“Typical Chicago street widths are not conducive to roundabout designs,” a City Hall official says.

It’s a different story, though, in the suburbs. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s district covering state routes in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties now includes eight roundabouts on those roads. Eleven more are planned in the next three to five years, and another dozen are being discussed, officials say.

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