The council is promoting a new £2 million ‘Dutch-style’ roundabout, claiming it will offer a more inclusive path for cyclists and pedestrians. However, locals are criticizing this move as politically correct, highlighting that only cars and lorries will actually be using this roundabout.
Residents are expressing concerns that this new junction in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, is overly complex. In fact, the local council even had to publish an animated video to guide people on how to navigate it, fearing that it will raise the likelihood of accidents due to its confusing nature.
This intricate road layout prioritizes non-motorized transportation, requiring drivers to make two stops at each of the four entry points – first for pedestrians from all directions, then for cyclists approaching from the right, and finally for other motor vehicles.
The torrent of criticism online includes a comment from one person who said: ‘This is an industrial estate, where pretty much everyone travels to/from by car – so your logic is to spend loads of money to make life easier for cyclists and pedestrians, of which there are very few, and harder for drivers, of which there are many.’
Another wrote: ‘Major route for lorries coming in and out of the Industrial estate to access M1, M25.
‘Pedestrian or bicycle traffic virtually non-existent. There should be an inquiry into who devised and approved this massively expensive and crazy project.’
One furious local stated: ‘It would be great for some drivers to understand how to use a normal roundabout [let alone] this complicated traffic congesting “PC” design to accommodate cyclists that still don’t stop at a give way point anyway.’
Other comments included ‘Waste of money. Fix the pot holes. Moronic move by the council’, ‘Looks more than confusing!’ and ‘This will only cause accidents and mayhem being also an experiment at citizens’ cost’.
Cyclists and pedestrians have been given priority over vehicles at the new Dutch-style roundabout in Hemel Hempstead
Locals say the roundabout is ‘more than confusing’ and claim it will cause accidents as motorists struggle to keep on top of what is going on around them
Vehicles have to negotiate crossings for pedestrians and bikes before reaching oncoming traffic on the road
Opponents’ safety concerns include cyclists ignoring the clockwise circuit they’re supposed to take and travelling in both directions, as well as reckless reckless e-scooter riders bombing past at speed on both crossings and the road.
There were also complaints about the tiny box vehicles sit in while waiting to join traffic at the roundabout after negotiating the pedestrian crossing and cycle lane.
Residents suspect drivers will stop immediately behind the vehicle in front, blocking the routes, and pointed out lorries and other large vehicles will straddle them completely.
The road feature was unveiled by the county council last year as an ‘inclusive’ junction that would provide a ‘safe, easy and attractive pedestrian and cycle corridor’.
This would improve ‘local connectivity, linking properties and workplaces’ in the Leverstock Green, Maylands and Woodhall Farm areas.
But opposition began even before construction started in January, with locals complaining ‘nobody’ had seen the consultation and the roundabout was ‘slipped into a lengthy local plan’.
A petition was also launched over the lengthy delays the town would have to endure during the six-month construction project, which did lead to a relaxing of plans to shut down the route entirely and impose a diversion.
Regular users of the route today told the Mail that the grand opening – slated for June 6 – will not usher in a new era of trouble-free and accident-free road use.
IT engineer Neil Shelley, 32, who drives to work and was taking a walk during his lunchbreak, said: ‘I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense.
‘I watched the video about how to cross it and I thought “Where are the pedestrians meant to go?” It’s already a busy road.
‘The video is done by the council and is on Youtube. It was talking about how you’d take the roundabout if you are a cyclist and how you would take it if you are a driver.
‘I do not think anyone is going to pay that much attention. People would fly through.
‘The exit is the worst part – will people know when to stop?’
Software engineer Sunil Deva, 36, who works at a nearby business, said: ‘I think it’s going to be confusing. This kind of roundabout isn’t in the highway code.’
Chris Walker, 39, who has a job in marketing, added: ‘I don’t know what the work is for. It’s no different to what it was before.
‘There was a roundabout here before and now there’s some cycle lanes – and some are pretty short – and pedestrian areas. But there’s no footfall here – what do you need the zebra crossings for? It’s pointless.’
A 53-year-old woman who gave her name as Mandy and said she lived nearby said: ‘It’s a complete waste of money. We never see cyclists and we never see pedestrians.
‘The roads are in such a bad condition they should be focusing on fixing the potholes.
‘They should [also] be focusing on the speed [cars travel] down here. It’s meant to be 30mph but people go 40 and 50mph.’
Work on the new roundabout began in January and is due to be completed next month
Software engineer Sunil Deva, 36, who works at a nearby business, said: ‘I think it’s going to be confusing.’
IT engineer Neil Shelley, 32, who drives to work in the area, said: ‘I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense.’
The UK’s first Dutch-style roundabout was installed in Cambridge in 2020 at a cost of £2.3 million and saw more collisions in its first three years than the previous three years.
There were ten collisions after the ‘cyclist killing zone’, as it was dubbed, was completed, three of them serious, compared to six minor incidents 2017-2019. Of these, eight involved cyclists and the others were a pedestrian and a driver.
The upgraded roundabout in Hemel Hempstead has been funded by Active Travel England, the government’s executive agency for promoting walking, wheeling and cycling.
A county council spokesman said: ‘The upgraded roundabout at Boundary Way is part of a scheme designed to improve and link up walking and cycling routes in the east of Hemel Hempstead to make it easier and safer for people to walk an cycle in an area which will see significant employment and housing growth over the next 20 years.
‘Following a successful bidding process, the funding to enable the delivery of this project has been provided by the government, through Active Travel England.’
