Magic Roundabout (Swindon)

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The large roundabout and two mini roundabouts.

Schematic view of the roundabout. A mirrored version is available here, to illustrate the traffic flow of a potential right-hand traffic version of the roundabout

Sign approaching the Magic Roundabout from the south on the B4289.

The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England, was constructed in 1972 and consists of one large roundabout containing five mini-roundabouts. It is located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C. Its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout.

1 History
2 Similar examples
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

It is an innovative system which was constructed according to the design of Frank Blackmore^{[citation needed]} of the British Transport and Road Research Laboratory, now Transport Research Laboratory. Traffic flow around the smaller, inner roundabout is actually anti-clockwise, whereas traffic flows in the usual clockwise manner around the five mini-roundabouts and the outer loop.

Although the complex comes as a shock to the newcomer, it is simple enough to traverse if each mini-roundabout is approached as a separate entity in turn. Local and regular users are proficient at traversing the complex which offers multiple paths between feeder roads. The flow rate of the complex is still highly impressive, and is reckoned to be better than a modern junction could offer. Virtually the same overall configuration has been in place for over 30 years.

When the roundabout complex was first opened, the mini-roundabouts were not permanently marked out and could be re-configured whilst 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.

Whilst The Magic Roundabout occupies an important part of modern Swindon history, the site itself has an interesting past. It is built over a section of the old Wilts and Berks Canal. A narrow, stone built bridge of c1810, which is a grade II listed building,^[1] carried the old Saxon way known as Drove Road over the canal half a mile east of the town centre. Its site became covered by Drove Roundabout which was later redeveloped as the Magic Roundabout. A wharf occupied one edge and the area was known as The Marsh. The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust are currently in negotiations with Swindon Council to include plans to restore the canal through the town centre as part of the New Swindon Regeneration Framework. The restoration would utilise the route of the North Wilts Canal and not the main West Vale route that the Magic Roundabout sits over. The North Wilts Canal was a separate branch which exited the town northwards through Moredon.

The Magic Roundabout is the crowning glory of Swindon's plethora of roundabouts of all sizes. Swindon is generally regarded by aficionados as the UK capital of roundabouts, alongside rivals Basingstoke, Milton Keynes and East Kilbride in Scotland. A calendar is produced each year by The UK Roundabout Appreciation Society depicting the town's finest examples.

The official name of this roundabout used to be County Islands, although hardly anyone other than officials called it by this name. The official name was changed in the late 1980s to match its popular name. It is the subject of English Roundabout, a pop song by the Swindon band XTC.

In 2005, it was voted the worst roundabout in a new survey held by a UK insurance company ^[2].

In September 2007 The Magic Roundabout was named as one of the World's Worst Junctions by a UK motoring magazine ^[3].

In December 2007 the BBC News Web Site reported a survey identifying The Magic Roundabout as one of the 10 Scariest Junctions in the United Kingdom ^[4].

Locals sometimes refer to The Magic Roundabout by the colloquial name of "The Tragic Roundabout" due to the many motor-accidents that occur on it, usually caused by drivers not familiar with its operation.^{[citation needed]}

T-shirts are produced by local company SwindonWeb with a slogan regarding the magic roundabout.