Even with 8,000 roundabouts, there only seem to be about 23 drivers in the whole country who know to give a left indicator when exiting the roundabout. There also seem to be a lot who actually think they should give a right blinker when going straight ahead at a 4 way roundabout.
You couldn't be more accurate! I had a car accident on that roundabout on my way to HSC English exam marking - slammed into by a hit and run driver but lucky for me & my passenger, my swerving avoided a stronger impact.. It's notoriously dangerous. Every time it's running a gauntlet of risks just to get to Australia Avenue!
Lol that roundabout is just Sydney doing what it does best - throwing in huge amounts of people with zero changes to infrastructure. You should check out the fairy meadow roundabout that had *several* trucks plow into the nearby macca's drive through... with all the apartments they're building nearby it's quickly becoming an absolute bloodbath.!
@James I Yep, I lived in Moonee Ponds a few years back, and driving through that was like a free roller-coaster ride with real life consequences. Geez I hated driving in Melbourne.
There is one in Hobart that takes some navigation skill because it is a light controlled round a bout, I don't live in Hobart anymore but used to avoid it. I rarely go to Homebush but to think that 30 years ago they did not imagine the future traffic and yet the Harbour bridge was designed with the coming century in mind.
Sydney's most infuriating roundabout, I argue Polding st/Smithfield Rd roundabout between Smithfield and Fairfield West under Cumberland Hwy is wayyy dodgier. Every time I'm there I see near misses haha
In the '70's and '80's I lived one minute from the 9 ways roundabout at Kingsford...had to do my driving test through it. Been cleaned up now with the light rail going through it. Now I live 5 minutes from this one...such is life.
Honestly the best thing about the light rail is that it fixed that intersection... sort of. Now it's pretty hard to turn right from Bunnerong Road into Rainbow Street
I used to be a taxi driver, and I loved that round about! The lights that have replaced it don't allow you to take any road, like the round about did. They also don't allow a U-turn. I would frequently lament the light rail killing what I thought was Sydney's best round-about.
We have a similar sized roundabout next to the test site in Luxembourg. Luckily they put red lights on it now and those lanes that 8/10 times make it impossible to mistake, but 2/10 times makes it guaranteed to get it wrong😂
Crazy to think it’s taking that long. The MP for Reid announced at the 2019 election that they were allocating funding to the project. Everything takes so long here!
I went to DFO once and vowed never again solely because of trying to navigate this crazy roundabout. People call the Polding Street/Cumberland Highway awful but DFO is insanely worse.
I used to work right there in the 90s it was formally a Woolworths Distribution Centre before DFO took over all it was there was the roundabout always busy but not like todays busy !!!
Yes that's a superb example of crap design. How many hundreds of millions of dollars did that bypass cost? Great if you're going from Sydney to Kiama, rubbish for anyone in Albion Park or Shellharbour. Than again that orbital ring was there for years so it was always a disaster waiting to happen.
@@iris4547 you’d be bloody surprised. I’ve been on a bus that was a whole hour late through there just because of the idiots that thought driving to a concert was a good idea. The actual solution is probably a dedicated bus lane to incentivise changing modes bc right now the buses that run through there are deeply unreliable
Got taken out by a big kenwood truck yesterday while turning right onto Homebush Bay Drive. I used the inner lane like a normal roundabout. He was turning right from homebush bay road on the outer lane . Turned into me as I was exiting I guess he diddnt see me next to him. Technically, we were both following the rules. First roundabout I've ever seen in Australia with two right turn lanes. Now I've got a brand new car ( two weeks old) with a busted side panel 😭 Just insane.
And to think, in 2000 I received a large compensation payout and was looking at buying a home in Newington in cash in full. I decided on another location instead. I thought I regretted not going ahead with the purchase. Not anymore. My house is in a tiny unknown suburb with no flow through traffic. It's so quiet and peaceful, I get cows, ducks walking across my front lawn and woken up by a rooster at the local primary school.
@@z_unknown I checked. If I had bought the house I was looking at, today it would be worth $2 million. That's why at first I regretted it. My house is only worth $1 million. But the peace and quiet is more than worth the money lost. There are only two organisations in my suburb. A primary school and a day care centre. There are only three streets and it's a dead end suburb with only 800 residents (not houses). It's been here since the 80's and my house backs onto a large private property with horses grazing on it. I watch the sunset every night over it. And I'm in Sydney.
Love the channel and content Sharath. I reside in the hills also. Perhaps you could do an episode about Galston gorge. It's had its fair share of controversy over the years😆. Well done mate. We
omg I was about to comment about that one, but then I figured someone else must have said something. Please do a video on that one next, I will subscribe so hard. It's such a mess!
Drove through it yesterday for maybe the thousandth time, you have truth in advertising. It would be great to monitor the stress levels, heart rate and breathing pattern of drivers approaching that roundabout. It's the only roundabout i drive through where i celebrate a successful manoeuvre each time.
Your channel is so unique, informative, and locally relevant - Love it! (And HATE that roundabout and the traffic that banks up on its approaches when there are events on at Olympic Park)
The Five Ways Miranda roundabout was notorious for minor accidents in the 90's. During peak hours tow trucks would park curbside at the roundabout's entries waiting to be the first on the scene of an accident.
Does anyone remember when the interesection of Polding Street and the cumberland highway was a roundabout, before the construction of the overpass? Same deal, tow trucks all over the place! I cannot substantiate it, but I recall hearing that before the overpass it had an accident rate of one per 15 minutes. It's still a dangerous intersection even now, but nothing like the bad old days.
Yep, I concur with the Miranda 5 ways. That's why they are traffic lights now.. Partly due to ignorant Shire drivers. Also Tradies on 3pm rush to the pub conflicting with Mum's with no brains picking up kids thinking it's all about them.
it's probably the one where port hacking roads and the rest meet, with Mercedes dealership on the corner. I can imagine the carnage.. australians aren't usually that great with roundabouts
the Five Ways was GREAT in it's time - except for peak. The 'trouble' with it was that it was two laned - which confused the feck out of so many people - except us locals. Now, it's been made WORSE by having so many lanes STOPPED. The solution would have been an overpass or tunnel... but of course nothing like that could EVER be done in Australia.
My vote for worst roundabout is where the M1 meets the Princes Highway at Oak Flats (just south of Wollongong). Not only are there cars going in every direction, but there are actual traffic lights around the roundabout itself! You look right to see if you can move onto the round about, only to then look forward to see everyone in front of you on the roundabout has stopped! Crazy.
People generally treat that intersection as drag race instead of slowly moving and giving away to other drivers. I see DFO as primary reason. Whenever the DFO is closed, the round about is calm. And weekends it's a parking lot. Esp from homebush bay Dr to a3 or Olympic park.
Yeh. Never understand why they don't force DFO to rebuild the entrance on the other side to at least create space.. Just restrict their traffic flow till they get the message.
Never driven that roundabout myself, always took the train to Olympic Park the few times I went. I'd say that there's a little roundabout in Smithfield that may offer a challenge to that Homebush one. That was one I used quite often in my younger days, living out at Bonnyrigg. I'd even take the overpass and jump off at Canley Vale Rd just to avoid it, even though it took a little longer to get back home and required backtracking.
Yeah a lot of people are debating over which roundabout is worse. Put a poll up on Twitter and so far the DFO roundabout is winning as worse haha. As bad as the Smithfield one is, I don’t think it gets quite as congested.
Yep, intersection of The Cumberland Highway and Polding Street. There was a time when that intersection had NO overpass and all traffic flowed through the roundabout and It was known as the most dangerous intersection in Australia. At it's worst, there was an accident every 15 minutes on that roundabout. There was dozens of towtrucks in attendance lining the footpaths at all hours of the day and night. Several fatalities there as well.
Hey that roundabout is a South West Sydney icon, Just remember when heading towards Livo always use the left lane and use the trucks in the right lane as a shield for on coming traffic.
Hello Sharath,here is an idea for a video. The Alexandra Canal. In case you you don't know, Alexandra Canal starts at Cooks River and heads towards Sydney Harbour. In the late 1800's,the intention was to build a navigable waterway between Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour, they built about 4 kilometers, then the project was abandoned.It's an interesting story, I know you will do a great job telling it..if you want.
I travel through this roundabout several times a week... the problem is not the roundabout but the drivers not knowing/following the rules AND being hesitant I.E not confident in their actions.
There were several roundabouts in the Newcastle area that were so disastrous for traffic flow that they had to demolish them and turn them into traffic lights, the Lake Rd/Thomas St (at the eastern end of the Newcastle link road) and Weakleys Dr/John Renshaw Dr (at the Northern end of the M1) are two examples.
There's also the one on the western edge of the Link Road which intersects between the Link Road/Hunter Expressway and Cameron Park Drive/Woodford Street that was once a roundabout as well and was replaced with traffic lights for the same reason.
@Blanco there's one that is further up that road where the Newcastle Inner City Bypass currently meets up with Newcastle Road at Jesmond, which is a roundabout but has lights where the eastbound of Newcastle Road crosses over the northbound lane of the Inner City Bypass, but it's going to be removed because of the extension of the Bypass to link up with the southern end of the Bypass at New Lambton Heights, which is currently starting to be constructed.
As a beginner driver who frequently used Hombush Bay drive roundabout, I had near misses a lot there, and I still get nervous every time I need to go past here. I'm glad they're finally changing that nightmare once and for all.
Come see the roundabout at oak flats, it’s got traffic lights, dual lanes, highways, motorways, Suburban roads and it’s so stupid, meanwhile there’s a second roundabout 50 meters away that makes it worse
This remind me of Britannia Roundabout in Adelaide. Five roads join at one weird shape roundabout that is full of trees. It has been rebuilt into two but still is a black spot
My only issue I really ever have is if I'm on Fullarton Road (Coming from the north), wanting to turn right onto Wakefield Street. Getting onto the roundabout is easy. But because how it's a double roundabout, i need to be in the right lane on the first, and left lane on the second. But you'll get some idiot coming from the other direction of Fullarton Road who wants to go straight, and sees the left lane clear and goes. I haven't trained my head to do a 450 around the second roundabout yet instead of changing lanes in the very short distance between the 2 roundabouts, simply because some idiot was selfish.
Having it rebuilt into two has made it even worse… the angle of that roundabout I swear must have flipped cars, I go around at not even 25km/h and I feel like a damn race car driver in the outside lane trying to fuckin manoeuvre it…
I came here via Reddit, and this was way more entertaining and interesting than I thought it would be! Great video. I have driven through this roundabout exactly once, and have avoided it ever since.
I love how random people keep posting my stuff to Reddit 🤣 I stay away in case of negativity which I find somewhat common over there haha. Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingBeautifully Some selected comment highlights for you from the post I came from: "I'm really impressed with this kid. / Sydney needs somebody to break through the anti-intellectual, gate keeping, cultural-cringe worshiping bullshit." and "Sharath is awesome, I've been through lots of his videos in the last couple of weeks" and "He's so awesome. And every video he does he is getting WAY more comfortable being on camera and cracking jokes. He's the best" aaaand "So this is Sharath from Building Beautifully, and he's the best. Everyone should go subscribe to his channel. / I'm not Sharath, I just love historic infrastructure stuff and he's great at it."
There’s also a couple of massive roundabouts in Diamond Valley in Melbourne which were recently removed and replaced with intersections with traffic lights because of there being too much traffic for the roundabouts to handle! :)
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
@@nunwrestling I do wonder if many drivers have read it properly, so here is a quote directly from the NSW government's road user handbook: "When you approach a roundabout, you must slow down or stop to give way to all vehicles already in the roundabout. This means giving way to vehicles already in the roundabout on your right, and vehicles that have entered the roundabout from your left or from directly opposite you. So other drivers know what you intend to do, you must indicate when turning at a roundabout. Continue to indicate as you turn. When you leave, you must indicate left, if practical. Stop indicating as soon as you have left the roundabout. On multi-lane roundabouts, you must follow the direction of the arrows or signs on the road". Maybe there is some confusion because of the interpretation of the term "give way". Depending on the size and layout of the roundabout and the speed of the traffic, in many situations it is possible to enter and exit the intersection before a vehicle already on the roundabout reaches the point at which you would need to give way or stop. Yes, you need to use your skill and judgement and unfortunately some drivers lack those qualities, while some people just don't have enough confidence or experience.
Most drivers in Sydney still think that you give way to the right on roundabouts. In 2012 the law was changed so that you give way to vehicles already on the roundabout. I drive 1000 to 1200 km a week around Sydney and l love to take advantage of people who don't know the law. I let vehicles give way to me when I'm on their right, but I make them give way when they S are on my right by getting on the roundabout first.
Agree. I cringed at that comment. If four cars all approach a roundabout at a slow speed they should all go - no-one is yet on the roundabout. With a give way to the right rule, everybody stops and it's a mess.
The Haymarket roundabout at the top of Elizabeth St in Melbourne used to be worse than this one. Then they somehow put traffic lights in and order was bought to the area.
Another contender for the worst roundabout would be the Flushcombe Road/Bungarribee Road roundabout in Blacktown, that one requires extreme patience due to the angle of Bungaribee road and the unusual shape of the roundabout, more fun when you have pedestrians crossing as well as there are lights on all 4 exits.
yep when you have to add lights to the roundabout you know youre just better off redoing the whole thing as a normal intersection. unless its an edge case where the lights are just useful for say holiday traffic, as the roundabout on the princes highway in albion park was before the bypass.
To which I agree, the roundabout I mentioned in question had pedestrian activated traffic lights since forever which triggers all 4 sides into red once someone presses the pedestrian beg button, but once they cross, it becomes a frustrating challenge to even clear the roundabout due to the backlog of traffic.
@@JaseyRae oh thats a shit show i did not even think of. you cant let the pedestrians cross one side because people exiting that side can come from all directions. yet with a traffic light intersection there is at least some order to the chaos.
@@iris4547 so true, good thing with the DFO roundabout which is the subject of this video, the pedestrian lights are completely on demand depending on which exit of the intersection you’re driving on, which they’ll only put the drivers light on red on a single exit once the pedestrian presses the button, while all the other lanes are flowing freely except for the one exit. Couldn’t do that to Flushcombe Road / Bungaribee Road roundabout in Blacktown is actually quite small, so doing individually controlled pedestrian lights for the roundabout would’ve been on the too hard basket, I agree that they should completely rebuild it as a regular 4 way intersection for traffic light control.
I used to live near here and would walk to the park near there sometimes, but I would have done it a lot more were it not for that cooked roundabout. I remember thinking once when walking past, "Damn I don't know how anyone drives through this thing," then seconds later a car ran into another car. Great to see a video on this absolute spectacle of faeces. That diverging diamond looks sick too.
I haven't lived in Sydney (West Ryde) for 15 years and the second I saw the video's title I asked the question. Is it the roundabout at the DFO? What a nightmare when there's an event at Olympic Park.
Well it's probably better than the current situation. But yes versus a normal signalised intersection, a diverging diamond typically requires more wait for pedestrians.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Nicely explained! Would you be able to make a video about the Nine Ways in Kingsford? It is seriously causing so much issue after the huge roundabout is removed.
7:35 Queensland actually has 3 diverging diamond interchanges. Two of them are fully complete while the third is open with just minor works still to complete
Yes, I accidentally got onto one while trying to avoid congestion on the M1. Almost had an accident as the right turn was much sharper than I was expecting on a freeway exit...
Brisbane has one of those diabolical navigation nightmares - the roundabout at Old Northern, Beckett, Queens & Rode Rds, complete with confusing lane markings.
Couldn't agree more. I've spent a long time on occasions waiting to get to the front of the queue at this roundabout. All it takes is one nervous and overly passive driver and the line just doesn't move.
Another great instalment, I’ve had the displeasure of playing roundabout roulette there many a afternoon. My blood pressure has improved since I no longer need to travel in the area.
Looks similar to the roundabout at Polding street and Smithfield road in Fairfield West. I have seen tow trucks parked and waiting near that roundabout on rainy days.... now for a tow truck to wait expectantly at an intersection like that, gives you an idea of how F-ing bad it is!
Then they can work out what to do with the exit from Centennial Avenue, which is what Homebush Bay Drive changes to, onto Parramatta Road through Marlborough Rd and which also gives access to Sydney Markets. Traffic through this will increase as they build new apartment blocks.
A diverging diamond is also on the cards for the Hume Hwy - Picton Rd junction. Another case of building housing developments without supporting infrastructure! I worked in DFO in 2007 and then again in 2015, and it was a nightmare getting in or out. Plenty of near misses!
Lol, $100m !! Someone's pockets are getting fat. I bet they'll eventually put a team of 4 on the job and take 4 years to do the upgrade as well. Happy for the diverging diamond design, but they need to innovate with project delivery as well.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Thanks, Sharath, I've learnt something new, today. Up until now, I had never heard of a diverging diamond. It looks like an interesting idea to fix the problem in Homebush.
I used to live walking distance to DFO and on Saturdays at around 2pm you also had Flemington Markets 1km away causing traffic issues that could extend to DFO. Then if you also had a music festival or other event at the Olympic Park that day 💀💀💀
I'd give you one better the intersection for Polding Street, Smithfield Road & Cumberland Highway on the boarder of Smithfield and Fairfield West. As a local in the area and you miss your turn off or if you're going along the Cumberland Highway and not to get off for the round-a-bout your heart really start to pump harder and your stress levels go fucking nuts.
I remember being stopped at this roundabout 20+ years ago, not long after DFO opened, and thinking, "They really need to do something about this". Not really surprised that it has taken this long.
After driving at that roundabout for 3 years straight almost everyday, it ain't so bad and I eventually got used to it. Infact, I take great amusement watching drivers who are not used to the roundabout either: - almost ragequit - mistimed entry - giving BMW drivers a chance to finally rev their cars to the max when launching into the roundabout - watching people on the 525/526 buses sigh in painstaking expressions as their bus slowly crawls to the two bus stops near DFO People watching is fun at this intersection :D Probably the next best (or worst) roundabout Sydney is the A28 Cumberland Road/Polding Street interchange in Fairfield lol Great and informative video as always!
You will want to go there if you have kids. The Blaxland River Park is a very nice park. Then the SOPA is a very nice indoor swimming pool that's crowded with people.
0:43 Is the exact same kind of accident I had at this roudabout. Someone just pulled out right in-front of me. This was probably in 2006! First to give way to your right > Wrong. First "Give way to traffic already in the roudabout"
I’ve never been to this roundabout but the one on polding st underneath the Cumberland hwy is worse sometimes in the morning there are tow trucks waiting but in the afternoon there is probably about 2-3 waiting for a accident to happen😅
On the Gold Coast, the planning authorities refused to allow Westfield to build their big shopping centre at Coomera until the nearby motorway interchange at Foxwell Road was upgraded (I am fairly sure Westfield contributed money to that upgrade). Why can't we do that in more places?
We should. The problem here is that the boundary between Parramatta Council and Strathfield Council is through the middle of the roundabout. Yes, it's not under the control of the state government. So, if a big developer wants to put a shopping centre with big rates payable on a corner of a small council, do you think that council is actually going to say no?
I used to encounter this roundabout when I took my younger sibling to volleyball training and games during the off peak hours. Even then it’s still stupid
I had the unfortunate luck of attempting this roundabout in a torrential rain in a beat up old car as a recent P plater. Missed another car by inches. Truly a scary experience. The angry honks all those years ago still ring in my ears
Great video! speaking of 'hindsight-based' road design, would love if you're planning to do a video on the Inner West road situation at any point; I live around Dulwich Hill and the "stroadification' of the main roads around here is intense, especially with all the high rises being built around poorly implemented main roads. Sydenham and Petersham road (not to mention king street in Newtown) are becoming worrisome. In any case, love your stuff, looking forward to your next video!
Even with 8,000 roundabouts, there only seem to be about 23 drivers in the whole country who know to give a left indicator when exiting the roundabout. There also seem to be a lot who actually think they should give a right blinker when going straight ahead at a 4 way roundabout.
I’m impressed by your ability to get shots from various angles at the roundabout. Must’ve had fun crossing the road!
Thank you! Yes, crossed the road many times. Probably caused a lot of traffic myself in doing so!
You should have tried the roundabout BEFORE the flyover was built. Only the Smithfield and Miranda Five-Ways roundabouts rival this one.
I agree. I knew where it was before you said it. Crazy.
Legally you can fly a drone in Bressington Park that's next to it so....
You couldn't be more accurate! I had a car accident on that roundabout on my way to HSC English exam marking - slammed into by a hit and run driver but lucky for me & my passenger, my swerving avoided a stronger impact.. It's notoriously dangerous. Every time it's running a gauntlet of risks just to get to Australia Avenue!
Lol that roundabout is just Sydney doing what it does best - throwing in huge amounts of people with zero changes to infrastructure. You should check out the fairy meadow roundabout that had *several* trucks plow into the nearby macca's drive through... with all the apartments they're building nearby it's quickly becoming an absolute bloodbath.!
Huh, funny seeing you here...
I avoid that roundabout in peak hours like the plague.
I live in Wollongong, it doesn’t get too congested so I think it’s fine
Nothing beats the massive round-a-bouts in Melbourne that casually also have tram lines going straight through the middle.
Mt Alexander Rd, North Essendon. I've lived in both cities and haven't seen a worse roundabout.
Or when three roundabouts are chained together. (Mooroolbark)
@James I Yep, I lived in Moonee Ponds a few years back, and driving through that was like a free roller-coaster ride with real life consequences.
Geez I hated driving in Melbourne.
The Haymarket roundabout was far worse than Mt Alexander Rd. It has four tram lines entering and exiting. Now it has traffic lights.
There is one in Hobart that takes some navigation skill because it is a light controlled round a bout, I don't live in Hobart anymore but used to avoid it. I rarely go to Homebush but to think that 30 years ago they did not imagine the future traffic and yet the Harbour bridge was designed with the coming century in mind.
That's not Sydney's worst roundabout, that honour goes to the one in Fairfield between Cumberland Hwy and Polding St
Sydney's most infuriating roundabout, I argue Polding st/Smithfield Rd roundabout between Smithfield and Fairfield West under Cumberland Hwy is wayyy dodgier. Every time I'm there I see near misses haha
The Polding road/Smithfield road/Cumberland hwy roundabout at Fairfield/Wetherill Park is just as bad, if not worse.
I thought this video was about that one at first, I've nearly been cleaned up there so many times. I now avoid it like the plague.
@@rhubarbisdeadsame I thought that too I travel on it a lot it’s a bad one
In the '70's and '80's I lived one minute from the 9 ways roundabout at Kingsford...had to do my driving test through it. Been cleaned up now with the light rail going through it. Now I live 5 minutes from this one...such is life.
Haha. I drove around it a dozen times one evening to get everyone in the car sick, sort of anyway.
Honestly the best thing about the light rail is that it fixed that intersection... sort of. Now it's pretty hard to turn right from Bunnerong Road into Rainbow Street
My driving instructor said if I could master 9 Ways I was ready for my driving test!
I used to be a taxi driver, and I loved that round about! The lights that have replaced it don't allow you to take any road, like the round about did. They also don't allow a U-turn. I would frequently lament the light rail killing what I thought was Sydney's best round-about.
We have a similar sized roundabout next to the test site in Luxembourg. Luckily they put red lights on it now and those lanes that 8/10 times make it impossible to mistake, but 2/10 times makes it guaranteed to get it wrong😂
$100 million now where else have we heard that figure recently regarding NSW transport infrastructure 🤔
Why am I here in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe so invested in a roundabout in Sydney, Australia?
This is literally why I dislike going to DFO Homebush, this roundabout gets me confused every time I go there
Crazy to think it’s taking that long. The MP for Reid announced at the 2019 election that they were allocating funding to the project. Everything takes so long here!
I went to DFO once and vowed never again solely because of trying to navigate this crazy roundabout. People call the Polding Street/Cumberland Highway awful but DFO is insanely worse.
I used to work right there in the 90s it was formally a Woolworths Distribution Centre before DFO took over all it was there was the roundabout always busy but not like todays busy !!!
Try lookin at the roundabout at Oak Flats NSW near Shellharbour at the M1 Princess Highway
Yes that's a superb example of crap design. How many hundreds of millions of dollars did that bypass cost? Great if you're going from Sydney to Kiama, rubbish for anyone in Albion Park or Shellharbour.
Than again that orbital ring was there for years so it was always a disaster waiting to happen.
I built those traffic lights. Lol
Definitely unnecessarily complicated . All the shoehorned upgrades make it have the worst features of traffic lights and a roundabout.
I often find it hard to explain to non-Sydney sides how bad this roundabout it is. I finally have a video to help articulate it! Thank you!
So true. Worst most dangerous roundabout. Crazy that nothing was done to make it safer
I live 10 minutes drive from that roundabout and I hate it! Very happy to see you making a video on it!
Hello fellow Rhodes resident
It really is awful!
This round about when concert's are on at the stadium is absolutely insane.
who drives to a concert?
@@iris4547 you’d be bloody surprised. I’ve been on a bus that was a whole hour late through there just because of the idiots that thought driving to a concert was a good idea. The actual solution is probably a dedicated bus lane to incentivise changing modes bc right now the buses that run through there are deeply unreliable
Oh I can imagine
.... As are people who DRIVE to a concert in Olympic Park!
@@iris4547 alot of public transport that's who
Got taken out by a big kenwood truck yesterday while turning right onto Homebush Bay Drive. I used the inner lane like a normal roundabout. He was turning right from homebush bay road on the outer lane . Turned into me as I was exiting I guess he diddnt see me next to him. Technically, we were both following the rules. First roundabout I've ever seen in Australia with two right turn lanes. Now I've got a brand new car ( two weeks old) with a busted side panel 😭 Just insane.
And to think, in 2000 I received a large compensation payout and was looking at buying a home in Newington in cash in full. I decided on another location instead. I thought I regretted not going ahead with the purchase. Not anymore. My house is in a tiny unknown suburb with no flow through traffic. It's so quiet and peaceful, I get cows, ducks walking across my front lawn and woken up by a rooster at the local primary school.
Good decision. Newington not good
@@z_unknown I checked. If I had bought the house I was looking at, today it would be worth $2 million. That's why at first I regretted it. My house is only worth $1 million. But the peace and quiet is more than worth the money lost. There are only two organisations in my suburb. A primary school and a day care centre. There are only three streets and it's a dead end suburb with only 800 residents (not houses). It's been here since the 80's and my house backs onto a large private property with horses grazing on it. I watch the sunset every night over it. And I'm in Sydney.
Man…the number of people saying the Fairfield Polding Street Roundabout is worse 🤣🤣 guess I’ll have to make a video about that sometime!
Love the channel and content Sharath. I reside in the hills also. Perhaps you could do an episode about Galston gorge. It's had its fair share of controversy over the years😆.
Well done mate.
We
Do remember that you have to comply with CC BY for the Diverging Diamond interchange image.
omg I was about to comment about that one, but then I figured someone else must have said something. Please do a video on that one next, I will subscribe so hard. It's such a mess!
Drove through it yesterday for maybe the thousandth time, you have truth in advertising. It would be great to monitor the stress levels, heart rate and breathing pattern of drivers approaching that roundabout. It's the only roundabout i drive through where i celebrate a successful manoeuvre each time.
the only problem of that roundabout is that there are a few too many cars and people are impatient. otherwise it is perfectly okay.
Also we need to talking about massive traffic parramatta road x A3 x Arthur st .
Its still huge disaster of A3 morning and night😢
7:39 also, QLD has three: M1/SR6 in Caloundra, M1/SR6 in Burleigh Heads, and M3/SR58 in Bald Hills.
Your channel is so unique, informative, and locally relevant - Love it! (And HATE that roundabout and the traffic that banks up on its approaches when there are events on at Olympic Park)
The Five Ways Miranda roundabout was notorious for minor accidents in the 90's. During peak hours tow trucks would park curbside at the roundabout's entries waiting to be the first on the scene of an accident.
Does anyone remember when the interesection of Polding Street and the cumberland highway was a roundabout, before the construction of the overpass? Same deal, tow trucks all over the place! I cannot substantiate it, but I recall hearing that before the overpass it had an accident rate of one per 15 minutes. It's still a dangerous intersection even now, but nothing like the bad old days.
Yep, I concur with the Miranda 5 ways. That's why they are traffic lights now.. Partly due to ignorant Shire drivers. Also Tradies on 3pm rush to the pub conflicting with Mum's with no brains picking up kids thinking it's all about them.
it's probably the one where port hacking roads and the rest meet, with Mercedes dealership on the corner. I can imagine the carnage.. australians aren't usually that great with roundabouts
Yep Aussie's really can't do roundabouts lol
the Five Ways was GREAT in it's time - except for peak. The 'trouble' with it was that it was two laned - which confused the feck out of so many people - except us locals. Now, it's been made WORSE by having so many lanes STOPPED. The solution would have been an overpass or tunnel... but of course nothing like that could EVER be done in Australia.
Honestly the presentation quality, humor, and editing here in this channel is such a glowup. Keep up the good work.
Thank you 😊
Impressed that a video about roundabouts made me chuckle, good stuff mate!
My vote for worst roundabout is where the M1 meets the Princes Highway at Oak Flats (just south of Wollongong). Not only are there cars going in every direction, but there are actual traffic lights around the roundabout itself! You look right to see if you can move onto the round about, only to then look forward to see everyone in front of you on the roundabout has stopped! Crazy.
Those lights slowed traffic massively and have caused alot more accidents
the lights on that intersection absolutely wreak havoc since the road additions
DFO and that roundabout...A special kind of hell
People generally treat that intersection as drag race instead of slowly moving and giving away to other drivers. I see DFO as primary reason. Whenever the DFO is closed, the round about is calm. And weekends it's a parking lot. Esp from homebush bay Dr to a3 or Olympic park.
Yeh. Never understand why they don't force DFO to rebuild the entrance on the other side to at least create space..
Just restrict their traffic flow till they get the message.
Never driven that roundabout myself, always took the train to Olympic Park the few times I went. I'd say that there's a little roundabout in Smithfield that may offer a challenge to that Homebush one. That was one I used quite often in my younger days, living out at Bonnyrigg. I'd even take the overpass and jump off at Canley Vale Rd just to avoid it, even though it took a little longer to get back home and required backtracking.
Yeah a lot of people are debating over which roundabout is worse. Put a poll up on Twitter and so far the DFO roundabout is winning as worse haha. As bad as the Smithfield one is, I don’t think it gets quite as congested.
Bong on Bonnyrigg.
Yep, intersection of The Cumberland Highway and Polding Street. There was a time when that intersection had NO overpass and all traffic flowed through the roundabout and It was known as the most dangerous intersection in Australia. At it's worst, there was an accident every 15 minutes on that roundabout. There was dozens of towtrucks in attendance lining the footpaths at all hours of the day and night. Several fatalities there as well.
Hey that roundabout is a South West Sydney icon, Just remember when heading towards Livo always use the left lane and use the trucks in the right lane as a shield for on coming traffic.
Hello Sharath,here is an idea for a video. The Alexandra Canal. In case you you don't know, Alexandra Canal starts at Cooks River and heads towards Sydney Harbour. In the late 1800's,the intention was to build a navigable waterway between Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour, they built about 4 kilometers, then the project was abandoned.It's an interesting story, I know you will do a great job telling it..if you want.
It was also involved in the relocation of Cooks River around the airport, as the airport was expanded.
Back with another banger? Good on you building beautifully!
Giving me flashbacks to the old seven hills rd - old windsor rd roundabout
I travel through this roundabout several times a week... the problem is not the roundabout but the drivers not knowing/following the rules AND being hesitant I.E not confident in their actions.
Well done with that intro bro! Had me cackling for a while.
EDIT the whole video is hilarious
There were several roundabouts in the Newcastle area that were so disastrous for traffic flow that they had to demolish them and turn them into traffic lights, the Lake Rd/Thomas St (at the eastern end of the Newcastle link road) and Weakleys Dr/John Renshaw Dr (at the Northern end of the M1) are two examples.
There's also the one on the western edge of the Link Road which intersects between the Link Road/Hunter Expressway and Cameron Park Drive/Woodford Street that was once a roundabout as well and was replaced with traffic lights for the same reason.
Why not roundabout with lights
The advantage is that you can switch off the lights from 23h-6h
@Blanco there's one that is further up that road where the Newcastle Inner City Bypass currently meets up with Newcastle Road at Jesmond, which is a roundabout but has lights where the eastbound of Newcastle Road crosses over the northbound lane of the Inner City Bypass, but it's going to be removed because of the extension of the Bypass to link up with the southern end of the Bypass at New Lambton Heights, which is currently starting to be constructed.
As a beginner driver who frequently used Hombush Bay drive roundabout, I had near misses a lot there, and I still get nervous every time I need to go past here.
I'm glad they're finally changing that nightmare once and for all.
Come see the roundabout at oak flats, it’s got traffic lights, dual lanes, highways, motorways, Suburban roads and it’s so stupid, meanwhile there’s a second roundabout 50 meters away that makes it worse
11 comments(at time of writing) and two of them are about this roundabout. It's a disaster.
Lol I actually put those lights in and I cant agree more with you.
I wonder why the sidewalks aren’t in the middle of the interchange in the diverging section.
Out of all your videos, this is among the funniest. Keep up the quality content as always 👍
I read the tile and Instantly thought of this roundabout and the one at Fairfield under he Cumberland Highway/Polding St/King st.
This remind me of Britannia Roundabout in Adelaide. Five roads join at one weird shape roundabout that is full of trees. It has been rebuilt into two but still is a black spot
word, terrible roundabout. avoid at all costs.
As someone who uses this roundabout everyday I would love for this to be implemented elsewhere
My only issue I really ever have is if I'm on Fullarton Road (Coming from the north), wanting to turn right onto Wakefield Street. Getting onto the roundabout is easy. But because how it's a double roundabout, i need to be in the right lane on the first, and left lane on the second. But you'll get some idiot coming from the other direction of Fullarton Road who wants to go straight, and sees the left lane clear and goes. I haven't trained my head to do a 450 around the second roundabout yet instead of changing lanes in the very short distance between the 2 roundabouts, simply because some idiot was selfish.
Having it rebuilt into two has made it even worse… the angle of that roundabout I swear must have flipped cars, I go around at not even 25km/h and I feel like a damn race car driver in the outside lane trying to fuckin manoeuvre it…
I came here via Reddit, and this was way more entertaining and interesting than I thought it would be! Great video. I have driven through this roundabout exactly once, and have avoided it ever since.
I love how random people keep posting my stuff to Reddit 🤣 I stay away in case of negativity which I find somewhat common over there haha. Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingBeautifully Some selected comment highlights for you from the post I came from:
"I'm really impressed with this kid. / Sydney needs somebody to break through the anti-intellectual, gate keeping, cultural-cringe worshiping bullshit." and "Sharath is awesome, I've been through lots of his videos in the last couple of weeks" and "He's so awesome. And every video he does he is getting WAY more comfortable being on camera and cracking jokes. He's the best" aaaand "So this is Sharath from Building Beautifully, and he's the best. Everyone should go subscribe to his channel. / I'm not Sharath, I just love historic infrastructure stuff and he's great at it."
There’s also a couple of massive roundabouts in Diamond Valley in Melbourne which were recently removed and replaced with intersections with traffic lights because of there being too much traffic for the roundabouts to handle! :)
Eltham and Templestowe roundabouts got removed, the volume of cars was simply too high and people trying to go 80kmh through them too...
Diverging diamonds are a nightmare for pedestrians and cyclists. Trust Australia to choose the cheaper mediocre option once again.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
I like how you used footage of diverging diamond interchanges from America and flipped them so the cars drove on the left instead of the right.
Ah yes you noticed! It was stock footage that I was allowed to use for free but I had to flip it!
There are at least 2 in Qld. Strathpine Rd over the Bruce Hwy, and the Caloundra Rd exit off the Bruce.
1:42 Giving way to traffic to your right? I think you meant giving way to the traffic already on the roundabout......
You’re right but many Sydneysiders ostensibly see it as the former.
@@nunwrestling I do wonder if many drivers have read it properly, so here is a quote directly from the NSW government's road user handbook:
"When you approach a roundabout, you must slow down or stop to give way to all vehicles already in the roundabout. This means giving way to vehicles already in the roundabout on your right, and vehicles that have entered the roundabout from your left or from directly opposite you.
So other drivers know what you intend to do, you must indicate when turning at a roundabout. Continue to indicate as you turn. When you leave, you must indicate left, if practical. Stop indicating as soon as you have left the roundabout.
On multi-lane roundabouts, you must follow the direction of the arrows or signs on the road".
Maybe there is some confusion because of the interpretation of the term "give way". Depending on the size and layout of the roundabout and the speed of the traffic, in many situations it is possible to enter and exit the intersection before a vehicle already on the roundabout reaches the point at which you would need to give way or stop. Yes, you need to use your skill and judgement and unfortunately some drivers lack those qualities, while some people just don't have enough confidence or experience.
Your videos just get better and better Sharath! It is always a joy to see you post!
Most drivers in Sydney still think that you give way to the right on roundabouts. In 2012 the law was changed so that you give way to vehicles already on the roundabout. I drive 1000 to 1200 km a week around Sydney and l love to take advantage of people who don't know the law. I let vehicles give way to me when I'm on their right, but I make them give way when they S are on my right by getting on the roundabout first.
Agree. I cringed at that comment.
If four cars all approach a roundabout at a slow speed they should all go - no-one is yet on the roundabout.
With a give way to the right rule, everybody stops and it's a mess.
@@mark123655 Keep moving, you only have to slow down to give way. Don't stop - merge. (Works for me 95% of the time.)
I dunno what you are on about with this on the roundabout.
One rule: if there's no car 3 spaces away, to the right, just *go!*
The Haymarket roundabout at the top of Elizabeth St in Melbourne used to be worse than this one. Then they somehow put traffic lights in and order was bought to the area.
They somehow brought together a mass of roads and 3 tram lines together in one roundabout
@@Detrabot Strictly speaking, one of team routes (58) doesn't enter the roundabout proper. It turns off about 40m short of it.
Another contender for the worst roundabout would be the Flushcombe Road/Bungarribee Road roundabout in Blacktown, that one requires extreme patience due to the angle of Bungaribee road and the unusual shape of the roundabout, more fun when you have pedestrians crossing as well as there are lights on all 4 exits.
yep when you have to add lights to the roundabout you know youre just better off redoing the whole thing as a normal intersection. unless its an edge case where the lights are just useful for say holiday traffic, as the roundabout on the princes highway in albion park was before the bypass.
To which I agree, the roundabout I mentioned in question had pedestrian activated traffic lights since forever which triggers all 4 sides into red once someone presses the pedestrian beg button, but once they cross, it becomes a frustrating challenge to even clear the roundabout due to the backlog of traffic.
@@JaseyRae oh thats a shit show i did not even think of. you cant let the pedestrians cross one side because people exiting that side can come from all directions. yet with a traffic light intersection there is at least some order to the chaos.
@@iris4547 so true, good thing with the DFO roundabout which is the subject of this video, the pedestrian lights are completely on demand depending on which exit of the intersection you’re driving on, which they’ll only put the drivers light on red on a single exit once the pedestrian presses the button, while all the other lanes are flowing freely except for the one exit.
Couldn’t do that to Flushcombe Road / Bungaribee Road roundabout in Blacktown is actually quite small, so doing individually controlled pedestrian lights for the roundabout would’ve been on the too hard basket, I agree that they should completely rebuild it as a regular 4 way intersection for traffic light control.
I used to live near here and would walk to the park near there sometimes, but I would have done it a lot more were it not for that cooked roundabout. I remember thinking once when walking past, "Damn I don't know how anyone drives through this thing," then seconds later a car ran into another car. Great to see a video on this absolute spectacle of faeces. That diverging diamond looks sick too.
Thank you for featuring the Eelup roundabout. I’ve been through that thing so many times. Can’t imagine what it would be like with no traffic lights.
Traffic lights can be installed now, cant they?
Love your sence of humour Sharath, it seems to be growing every upload.
I haven't lived in Sydney (West Ryde) for 15 years and the second I saw the video's title I asked the question. Is it the roundabout at the DFO?
What a nightmare when there's an event at Olympic Park.
Shame that diverging diamonds are very unfriendly to pedestrians and cyclists requiring multiple waiting phases
Well it's probably better than the current situation. But yes versus a normal signalised intersection, a diverging diamond typically requires more wait for pedestrians.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Nicely explained!
Would you be able to make a video about the Nine Ways in Kingsford? It is seriously causing so much issue after the huge roundabout is removed.
In Australia, 7994 out of its 8000 roundabouts are in the Sunshine Coast
you misspelt newcastle
Clearly you've never been to a suburb in Western Sydney called Glenmore Park
@@peepeetrain8755 newcastle/central coast and glenmore park are certainly up there, but noosa heads in sunshine coast stomps both of them
7:35 Queensland actually has 3 diverging diamond interchanges. Two of them are fully complete while the third is open with just minor works still to complete
Yes, I accidentally got onto one while trying to avoid congestion on the M1. Almost had an accident as the right turn was much sharper than I was expecting on a freeway exit...
Here in Georgia the GDOT has installed a bunch of these diverging diamonds over the past few years. They help so much
I like the ones in Queensland as well. They're a bit weird at first but traffic flow is vastly improved and getting onto the highway is far easier.
Brisbane has one of those diabolical navigation nightmares - the roundabout at Old Northern, Beckett, Queens & Rode Rds, complete with confusing lane markings.
There's a roundabout in Blacktown, that's small but also frustratingly hard at times
Couldn't agree more. I've spent a long time on occasions waiting to get to the front of the queue at this roundabout. All it takes is one nervous and overly passive driver and the line just doesn't move.
Another great instalment, I’ve had the displeasure of playing roundabout roulette there many a afternoon. My blood pressure has improved since I no longer need to travel in the area.
Thank you! Yes, such a horrible roundabout for real
Looks similar to the roundabout at Polding street and Smithfield road in Fairfield West.
I have seen tow trucks parked and waiting near that roundabout on rainy days.... now for a tow truck to wait expectantly at an intersection like that, gives you an idea of how F-ing bad it is!
Then they can work out what to do with the exit from Centennial Avenue, which is what Homebush Bay Drive changes to, onto Parramatta Road through Marlborough Rd and which also gives access to Sydney Markets. Traffic through this will increase as they build new apartment blocks.
I once work at Underwood Rd and trying to get home on a Saturday was about a 1.5 hour trip 1 hour was to get passed this roundabout.
A diverging diamond is also on the cards for the Hume Hwy - Picton Rd junction. Another case of building housing developments without supporting infrastructure!
I worked in DFO in 2007 and then again in 2015, and it was a nightmare getting in or out. Plenty of near misses!
I find the one in Fairfield worse, Smithfield road I believe?
Lol, $100m !! Someone's pockets are getting fat.
I bet they'll eventually put a team of 4 on the job and take 4 years to do the upgrade as well.
Happy for the diverging diamond design, but they need to innovate with project delivery as well.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
Thanks, Sharath, I've learnt something new, today. Up until now, I had never heard of a diverging diamond. It looks like an interesting idea to fix the problem in Homebush.
do you have a drone license to fly over busy developed places?
wondering this too
The number of times when i was on that roundabout, almost every time some idiot cuts me off or pulls out while I'm still making my turn.
I used to live walking distance to DFO and on Saturdays at around 2pm you also had Flemington Markets 1km away causing traffic issues that could extend to DFO. Then if you also had a music festival or other event at the Olympic Park that day 💀💀💀
I was once stuck on underwood road for almost 40 minutes waiting to get through. It is absolutely diabolical...
Awww man the nostalgia of me shitting bricks on my L's driving around this roundabout. Great quality content as always man!
I'd give you one better the intersection for Polding Street, Smithfield Road & Cumberland Highway on the boarder of Smithfield and Fairfield West.
As a local in the area and you miss your turn off or if you're going along the Cumberland Highway and not to get off for the round-a-bout your heart really start to pump harder and your stress levels go fucking nuts.
I remember being stopped at this roundabout 20+ years ago, not long after DFO opened, and thinking, "They really need to do something about this". Not really surprised that it has taken this long.
I remember this was listed as an accident blackspot by the federal government. Not sure about now.
After driving at that roundabout for 3 years straight almost everyday, it ain't so bad and I eventually got used to it. Infact, I take great amusement watching drivers who are not used to the roundabout either:
- almost ragequit
- mistimed entry
- giving BMW drivers a chance to finally rev their cars to the max when launching into the roundabout
- watching people on the 525/526 buses sigh in painstaking expressions as their bus slowly crawls to the two bus stops near DFO
People watching is fun at this intersection :D Probably the next best (or worst) roundabout Sydney is the A28 Cumberland Road/Polding Street interchange in Fairfield lol
Great and informative video as always!
Haha, all valid points. Ive used this roundabout every weekend for almost 14 years straight so those are pretty accurate.
Have you also checked out the Cumberland Hwy overpass Polding Street roundabout at Smithfield? It's almost as bad as this!
This roundabout is so infamous by anybody who has even been to the remote desert called “Sydney Olympic Park” that it can have its own slander video!
You will want to go there if you have kids. The Blaxland River Park is a very nice park. Then the SOPA is a very nice indoor swimming pool that's crowded with people.
0:43 Is the exact same kind of accident I had at this roudabout. Someone just pulled out right in-front of me. This was probably in 2006!
First to give way to your right > Wrong.
First "Give way to traffic already in the roudabout"
I’ve never been to this roundabout but the one on polding st underneath the Cumberland hwy is worse sometimes in the morning there are tow trucks waiting but in the afternoon there is probably about 2-3 waiting for a accident to happen😅
Accidentally stumbled upon this roundabout a week after getting my Ls. It was nothing short of a near-death experience.
On the Gold Coast, the planning authorities refused to allow Westfield to build their big shopping centre at Coomera until the nearby motorway interchange at Foxwell Road was upgraded (I am fairly sure Westfield contributed money to that upgrade). Why can't we do that in more places?
We should. The problem here is that the boundary between Parramatta Council and Strathfield Council is through the middle of the roundabout. Yes, it's not under the control of the state government. So, if a big developer wants to put a shopping centre with big rates payable on a corner of a small council, do you think that council is actually going to say no?
I used to encounter this roundabout when I took my younger sibling to volleyball training and games during the off peak hours. Even then it’s still stupid
I had the unfortunate luck of attempting this roundabout in a torrential rain in a beat up old car as a recent P plater. Missed another car by inches. Truly a scary experience. The angry honks all those years ago still ring in my ears
Fascinating video! Thanks for putting this together!
Polding Street, Smithfield road horrendously bad, goes in 5 directions
Building Beautifully is incapable of making a bad video, he never misses!
Thank you 😊
The right turn from left lane being allowed has resulted in me seeing many people coming undone.
How much will the toll be for travel on the DDI? You can't have any new or upgraded roads in Sydney unless Transurban can put a toll on it.
Great video! speaking of 'hindsight-based' road design, would love if you're planning to do a video on the Inner West road situation at any point; I live around Dulwich Hill and the "stroadification' of the main roads around here is intense, especially with all the high rises being built around poorly implemented main roads. Sydenham and Petersham road (not to mention king street in Newtown) are becoming worrisome. In any case, love your stuff, looking forward to your next video!