Parking considerations and bus stop locations

Parking or stopping in the circulatory roadway is not conducive to proper roundabout operations and should be prohibited. Parking on entries and exits should also be set back as far as possible so as not to hinder roundabout operations or to impair the visibility of pedestrians. AASHTO recommends that parking should end at least 6.1 m (20 ft) from the crosswalk of an intersection (4). Curb extensions or “bulb-outs” can be used to clearly mark the limit of permitted parking and reduce the width of the entries and exits.

For safety and operational reasons, bus stops should be located as far away from entries and exits as possible, and never in the circulatory roadway.

• Near-side stops: If a bus stop is to be provided on the near side of a roundabout, it should be located far enough away from the splitter island so that a vehicle overtaking a stationary bus is in no danger of being forced into the splitter island, especially if the bus starts to pull away from the stop. If an approach has only one lane and capacity is not an issue on that entry, the bus stop could be located at the pedestrian crossing in the lane of traffic. This is not recommended for entries with more than one lane, because vehicles in the lane next to the bus may not see pedestrians.
• Far-side stops: Bus stops on the far side of a roundabout should be constructed with pull-outs to minimize queuing into the roundabout. These stops should be located beyond the pedestrian crossing to improve visibility of pedestrians to other exiting vehicles.