Magic roundabouts: search launched

A contest aims to find which ones make motorists’ heads spin, and which are quite pleasant – in a roundabout way Blooming flower beds, velvety lawns, graceful silver birches, the gentle background hum of happy cars – to Tom Hemmingway, earth hath very little more to show more fair than a little patch of paradise, the roundabout in Nottingham outside the BBC’s offices. He is so impressed by it – “one of the very best in Nottingham and possibly the best in the whole UK”, that he has nominated it in a quest to find the nation’s best (and worst) roundabouts . Hemmingway, who regularly drives past it, is quite lyrical about his promised land: “It even looks gorgeous with its colourful flowers and trees,” he says. “It never struggles to cope even on match days when its proximity to Nottingham’s two football clubs and to Trent Bridge cricket ground means it’s heaving with cars. The roundabout takes it all in its stride and doesn’t miss a beat.” Letchworth Garden City claims the honour of the first UK roundabout, built in 1909, but they really took off in the 1960s, when Swindon acquired its legendary Magic Roundabout, which has been known to reduce motorists to tears. Many stir deep emotions, particularly among those who feel a lifetime is ebbing away during the hours spent trapped in their orbit. If anything the roundabout at Queen’s Gardens in Newcastle-under-Lyme is even more densely planted than Nottingham’s charmer, with grass, several trees and a bristling thicket of spiny shrubs. It fills James Welch, from Stoke, with revulsion. “I have the misfortune to have to navigate this appalling road island twice every working day, and it’s not only a eyesore, it’s also a catastrophe. The Queen’s Gardens roundabout is plagued by constant beeping and motorists struggling to find the right lanes. “The best thing to do would be to take a JCB to it and plough the whole thing up and start again.” The search, inevitably dubbed Roundabout Idol, has been launched by the car leasing firm Central Contracts, which promises to praise the best and name and shame the worst. “Rather than making our journeys easier, certain roundabouts have been plaguing our commutes and have us risking both vehicle and sanity to reach the other side,” a spokesman said. “We are asking motorists to tell us what roundabout makes their head spin, their stomach churn and their temper rise.” Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk

Posted by on March 16, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.