THE UK’s first Dutch-style roundabout opened in the bicycle-friendly city of Cambridge, leaving many local motorists and cyclists bemused.
Now, with less than a fortnight of use under its belt, the new style of traffic island has been forced to close following an accident.
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The crash occurred while work on the new £2.3m Fendon Road roundabout was still ongoing, and despite this, a motorist still managed to crash into a Belisha beacon, severely damaging it before they drove off.
The Fendon Road roundabout will remain closed until later this week, as workers assess the damage to the roundabout and make the necessary repairs. Ironically the roundabout was about to undergo its opening ceremony at the time of the crash, scissors were literally hovering over the ribbon!
Sam Davies, 51, chairman of the neighbourhood group Queen Edith's Community Forum, was on the scene. Speaking to the Telegraph, she said, “The night before it was due to open, they were ready to cut the ribbon, a motorist drove into one of the Belisha beacons and it was okay to go ahead with the opening but they now need to do some investigations and make sure the thing is actually structurally sound.”
As the driver of the car left the scene, it is not clear what the cause of the crash was, although there are fears among locals that driver new to the area won’t realise that cycles take priority over other road users.
The roundabout is a new concept in the UK and features a red ring around the exterior that bicycles can cycle around and that cars must give way to when either entering or exiting the roundabout. The new system is the first of its kind in the UK, and as the name at the top suggests, the idea was borrowed from the bicycle-loving Dutch transport system.
