The Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

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I thank the lord that I have yet to encounter the mythical Magic Roundabout of Swindon, the star of today’s Wikiworm, my weekly trawl through the more unusual articles to be found on Wikipedia. Have any Dabblers had the misfortune to have tackled this monstrosity?

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England was constructed in 1972 and consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged around a sixth central, anti-clockwise roundabout. It is located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C. In 2009 it was voted the fourth scariest junction in Britain, in a poll by Britannia Rescue.

UK’s 10 scariest junctions (2009)

Gravelly Hill (Spaghetti Junction), Birmingham
M8 junctions through central Glasgow
Marble Arch, London
Magic Roundabout, Swindon, Wiltshire
Hanger Lane Gyratory, west London
M5/M6 intersection, Birmingham
Piccadilly Circus, London
Five Ways junction, Birmingham
Magic Roundabout, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Kingston Bridge, Glasgow
The roundabout was constructed according to the design of Frank Blackmore, of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory, under the control of Traffic Engineer Raymond Harper of Swindon Borough Council. Traffic flow around the larger, inner roundabout is counter-clockwise, and traffic flows in the usual clockwise manner around the five mini-roundabouts and the outer loop.

Local and regular users are proficient at traversing the complex junction, which offers multiple paths between feeder roads. Virtually the same overall configuration has been in place for 40 years.

When the roundabout complex was first opened, the mini-roundabouts were not permanently marked out and could be reconfigured while the layout was fine tuned. A police officer was stationed at each mini roundabout during this pilot phase to oversee how drivers coped with the unique arrangement.

A calendar is produced each year by the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, which often features the Magic Roundabout and other examples from Swindon and other British towns.

Swindon-Magic-Roundabout

The official name of the roundabout used to be County Islands, but it was changed in the late 1980s to match its popular name. It inspired the song “English Roundabout”, a pop song by the Swindon band XTC, which was recorded for their 1982 album English Settlement.

In 2005, it was voted the worst roundabout in a survey by a UK insurance company. In September 2007, the Magic Roundabout was named as one of the World’s Worst Junctions by a UK motoring magazine. In December 2007, BBC News reported a survey identifying The Magic Roundabout as one of the “10 Scariest Junctions in the United Kingdom”; however, the roundabout provides a better throughput of traffic than other designs and has an excellent safety record, since traffic moves too slowly to do serious damage in the event of a collision.

 

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About Author Profile: Worm

In between dealing with all things technological in the Dabbler engine room, Worm writes the weekly Wikiworm column every Saturday and our monthly Book Club newsletters.

4 thoughts on “The Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

  1. philipwilk@googlemail.com'
    October 12, 2013 at 19:13

    It’s not as bad to drive around as it looks on paper, as I discovered when I once took a wrong turning and found myself sucked into it. Swindon also has at least one cluster of four mini roundabouts. A railway town’s revenge on the car.

  2. andrewnixon@blueyonder.co.uk'
    October 12, 2013 at 21:01

    I’ve traversed it a few times. As Philip says, once you’re on it isn’t too bad, but the sign as you approach scares the bejesus out of you.

  3. zmkc@ymail.com'
    October 13, 2013 at 04:30

    I have always been puzzled by the UK’s proliferation of roundabouts. I’d assumed it was a result of something put in the water by inter-planetary invaders in preparation for their arrival. Swindon, by the looks of it, will be the epicentre of their coming empire.

  4. Worm
    October 14, 2013 at 13:42

    I took my driving test in Bracknell, which is fairly bad for bonkers roundabouts and confusing concrete ring-roads, but I must admit I’m curious to tackle the magic roundabout, preferably at 3am when there’s no one else there

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