By the mid-1990s, however, city residents expressed growing concern over the volume and speed of vehicles going through their neighborhoods in spite of the growing number of stop signs. At the same time, a citizen movement to reclaim ownership of city streets began to gain momentum. They began pressing the city s elected officials and staff to implement physical measures that would limit vehicle speed and volumes not only on local streets, but on collector and arterial streets as well. Traffic circles moved to the fore as one of the key measures to accomplish these objectives, and Minneapolis began experimenting with the concept in 1994. Except in rare circumstances, the intersection has four approach legs.
Care is taken that the intersection is well lit.
Where volumes warrant, obstruction approach markings are painted on the pavement. This measure is taken to accommodate the turn characteristics of Metro Transit vehicles, fire emergency vehicles, school buses, and city garbage trucks. Advisory signs describing acceptable turning behavior are also posted at the traffic circle. The Public Works Department requires a twenty-two foot clearance between the outside edge of a traffic circle and an intersection s curved curb sections to allow for snow accumulation, safe vehicle movement past the circle, and safe conditions for pedestrians in the crosswalks. In the city s experience, the effectiveness of a traffic circle depends on the forced, lateral deflection of a vehicle from its straight-line path.