@James I Yep, I lived in Moonee Ponds a few years back, and driving through that was like a free roller-coaster ride with real life consequences. Geez I hated driving in Melbourne.
There is one in Hobart that takes some navigation skill because it is a light controlled round a bout, I don't live in Hobart anymore but used to avoid it. I rarely go to Homebush but to think that 30 years ago they did not imagine the future traffic and yet the Harbour bridge was designed with the coming century in mind.
Drove through it yesterday for maybe the thousandth time, you have truth in advertising. It would be great to monitor the stress levels, heart rate and breathing pattern of drivers approaching that roundabout. It's the only roundabout i drive through where i celebrate a successful manoeuvre each time.
Love the channel and content Sharath. I reside in the hills also. Perhaps you could do an episode about Galston gorge. It's had its fair share of controversy over the years😆. Well done mate. We
omg I was about to comment about that one, but then I figured someone else must have said something. Please do a video on that one next, I will subscribe so hard. It's such a mess!
In the '70's and '80's I lived one minute from the 9 ways roundabout at Kingsford...had to do my driving test through it. Been cleaned up now with the light rail going through it. Now I live 5 minutes from this one...such is life.
Honestly the best thing about the light rail is that it fixed that intersection... sort of. Now it's pretty hard to turn right from Bunnerong Road into Rainbow Street
I used to be a taxi driver, and I loved that round about! The lights that have replaced it don't allow you to take any road, like the round about did. They also don't allow a U-turn. I would frequently lament the light rail killing what I thought was Sydney's best round-about.
We have a similar sized roundabout next to the test site in Luxembourg. Luckily they put red lights on it now and those lanes that 8/10 times make it impossible to mistake, but 2/10 times makes it guaranteed to get it wrong😂
Lol that roundabout is just Sydney doing what it does best - throwing in huge amounts of people with zero changes to infrastructure. You should check out the fairy meadow roundabout that had *several* trucks plow into the nearby macca's drive through... with all the apartments they're building nearby it's quickly becoming an absolute bloodbath.!
Even with 8,000 roundabouts, there only seem to be about 23 drivers in the whole country who know to give a left indicator when exiting the roundabout. There also seem to be a lot who actually think they should give a right blinker when going straight ahead at a 4 way roundabout.
Your channel is so unique, informative, and locally relevant - Love it! (And HATE that roundabout and the traffic that banks up on its approaches when there are events on at Olympic Park)
Never driven that roundabout myself, always took the train to Olympic Park the few times I went. I'd say that there's a little roundabout in Smithfield that may offer a challenge to that Homebush one. That was one I used quite often in my younger days, living out at Bonnyrigg. I'd even take the overpass and jump off at Canley Vale Rd just to avoid it, even though it took a little longer to get back home and required backtracking.
Yeah a lot of people are debating over which roundabout is worse. Put a poll up on Twitter and so far the DFO roundabout is winning as worse haha. As bad as the Smithfield one is, I don’t think it gets quite as congested.
Yep, intersection of The Cumberland Highway and Polding Street. There was a time when that intersection had NO overpass and all traffic flowed through the roundabout and It was known as the most dangerous intersection in Australia. At it's worst, there was an accident every 15 minutes on that roundabout. There was dozens of towtrucks in attendance lining the footpaths at all hours of the day and night. Several fatalities there as well.
Hey that roundabout is a South West Sydney icon, Just remember when heading towards Livo always use the left lane and use the trucks in the right lane as a shield for on coming traffic.
The Five Ways Miranda roundabout was notorious for minor accidents in the 90's. During peak hours tow trucks would park curbside at the roundabout's entries waiting to be the first on the scene of an accident.
Does anyone remember when the interesection of Polding Street and the cumberland highway was a roundabout, before the construction of the overpass? Same deal, tow trucks all over the place! I cannot substantiate it, but I recall hearing that before the overpass it had an accident rate of one per 15 minutes. It's still a dangerous intersection even now, but nothing like the bad old days.
Yep, I concur with the Miranda 5 ways. That's why they are traffic lights now.. Partly due to ignorant Shire drivers. Also Tradies on 3pm rush to the pub conflicting with Mum's with no brains picking up kids thinking it's all about them.
it's probably the one where port hacking roads and the rest meet, with Mercedes dealership on the corner. I can imagine the carnage.. australians aren't usually that great with roundabouts
the Five Ways was GREAT in it's time - except for peak. The 'trouble' with it was that it was two laned - which confused the feck out of so many people - except us locals. Now, it's been made WORSE by having so many lanes STOPPED. The solution would have been an overpass or tunnel... but of course nothing like that could EVER be done in Australia.
@@iris4547 you’d be bloody surprised. I’ve been on a bus that was a whole hour late through there just because of the idiots that thought driving to a concert was a good idea. The actual solution is probably a dedicated bus lane to incentivise changing modes bc right now the buses that run through there are deeply unreliable
Hello Sharath,here is an idea for a video. The Alexandra Canal. In case you you don't know, Alexandra Canal starts at Cooks River and heads towards Sydney Harbour. In the late 1800's,the intention was to build a navigable waterway between Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour, they built about 4 kilometers, then the project was abandoned.It's an interesting story, I know you will do a great job telling it..if you want.
My vote for worst roundabout is where the M1 meets the Princes Highway at Oak Flats (just south of Wollongong). Not only are there cars going in every direction, but there are actual traffic lights around the roundabout itself! You look right to see if you can move onto the round about, only to then look forward to see everyone in front of you on the roundabout has stopped! Crazy.
You couldn't be more accurate! I had a car accident on that roundabout on my way to HSC English exam marking - slammed into by a hit and run driver but lucky for me & my passenger, my swerving avoided a stronger impact.. It's notoriously dangerous. Every time it's running a gauntlet of risks just to get to Australia Avenue!
There were several roundabouts in the Newcastle area that were so disastrous for traffic flow that they had to demolish them and turn them into traffic lights, the Lake Rd/Thomas St (at the eastern end of the Newcastle link road) and Weakleys Dr/John Renshaw Dr (at the Northern end of the M1) are two examples.
There's also the one on the western edge of the Link Road which intersects between the Link Road/Hunter Expressway and Cameron Park Drive/Woodford Street that was once a roundabout as well and was replaced with traffic lights for the same reason.
@Blanco there's one that is further up that road where the Newcastle Inner City Bypass currently meets up with Newcastle Road at Jesmond, which is a roundabout but has lights where the eastbound of Newcastle Road crosses over the northbound lane of the Inner City Bypass, but it's going to be removed because of the extension of the Bypass to link up with the southern end of the Bypass at New Lambton Heights, which is currently starting to be constructed.
Yes that's a superb example of crap design. How many hundreds of millions of dollars did that bypass cost? Great if you're going from Sydney to Kiama, rubbish for anyone in Albion Park or Shellharbour. Than again that orbital ring was there for years so it was always a disaster waiting to happen.
There’s also a couple of massive roundabouts in Diamond Valley in Melbourne which were recently removed and replaced with intersections with traffic lights because of there being too much traffic for the roundabouts to handle! :)
I used to work right there in the 90s it was formally a Woolworths Distribution Centre before DFO took over all it was there was the roundabout always busy but not like todays busy !!!
I used to live near here and would walk to the park near there sometimes, but I would have done it a lot more were it not for that cooked roundabout. I remember thinking once when walking past, "Damn I don't know how anyone drives through this thing," then seconds later a car ran into another car. Great to see a video on this absolute spectacle of faeces. That diverging diamond looks sick too.
Sydney's most infuriating roundabout, I argue Polding st/Smithfield Rd roundabout between Smithfield and Fairfield West under Cumberland Hwy is wayyy dodgier. Every time I'm there I see near misses haha
I came here via Reddit, and this was way more entertaining and interesting than I thought it would be! Great video. I have driven through this roundabout exactly once, and have avoided it ever since.
I love how random people keep posting my stuff to Reddit 🤣 I stay away in case of negativity which I find somewhat common over there haha. Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingBeautifully Some selected comment highlights for you from the post I came from: "I'm really impressed with this kid. / Sydney needs somebody to break through the anti-intellectual, gate keeping, cultural-cringe worshiping bullshit." and "Sharath is awesome, I've been through lots of his videos in the last couple of weeks" and "He's so awesome. And every video he does he is getting WAY more comfortable being on camera and cracking jokes. He's the best" aaaand "So this is Sharath from Building Beautifully, and he's the best. Everyone should go subscribe to his channel. / I'm not Sharath, I just love historic infrastructure stuff and he's great at it."
As a beginner driver who frequently used Hombush Bay drive roundabout, I had near misses a lot there, and I still get nervous every time I need to go past here. I'm glad they're finally changing that nightmare once and for all.
Another great instalment, I’ve had the displeasure of playing roundabout roulette there many a afternoon. My blood pressure has improved since I no longer need to travel in the area.
I went to DFO once and vowed never again solely because of trying to navigate this crazy roundabout. People call the Polding Street/Cumberland Highway awful but DFO is insanely worse.
And to think, in 2000 I received a large compensation payout and was looking at buying a home in Newington in cash in full. I decided on another location instead. I thought I regretted not going ahead with the purchase. Not anymore. My house is in a tiny unknown suburb with no flow through traffic. It's so quiet and peaceful, I get cows, ducks walking across my front lawn and woken up by a rooster at the local primary school.
@@z_unknown I checked. If I had bought the house I was looking at, today it would be worth $2 million. That's why at first I regretted it. My house is only worth $1 million. But the peace and quiet is more than worth the money lost. There are only two organisations in my suburb. A primary school and a day care centre. There are only three streets and it's a dead end suburb with only 800 residents (not houses). It's been here since the 80's and my house backs onto a large private property with horses grazing on it. I watch the sunset every night over it. And I'm in Sydney.
Nicely explained! Would you be able to make a video about the Nine Ways in Kingsford? It is seriously causing so much issue after the huge roundabout is removed.
Got taken out by a big kenwood truck yesterday while turning right onto Homebush Bay Drive. I used the inner lane like a normal roundabout. He was turning right from homebush bay road on the outer lane . Turned into me as I was exiting I guess he diddnt see me next to him. Technically, we were both following the rules. First roundabout I've ever seen in Australia with two right turn lanes. Now I've got a brand new car ( two weeks old) with a busted side panel 😭 Just insane.
Thanks, Sharath, I've learnt something new, today. Up until now, I had never heard of a diverging diamond. It looks like an interesting idea to fix the problem in Homebush.
People generally treat that intersection as drag race instead of slowly moving and giving away to other drivers. I see DFO as primary reason. Whenever the DFO is closed, the round about is calm. And weekends it's a parking lot. Esp from homebush bay Dr to a3 or Olympic park.
Yeh. Never understand why they don't force DFO to rebuild the entrance on the other side to at least create space.. Just restrict their traffic flow till they get the message.
Come see the roundabout at oak flats, it’s got traffic lights, dual lanes, highways, motorways, Suburban roads and it’s so stupid, meanwhile there’s a second roundabout 50 meters away that makes it worse
Crazy to think it’s taking that long. The MP for Reid announced at the 2019 election that they were allocating funding to the project. Everything takes so long here!
Great video! speaking of 'hindsight-based' road design, would love if you're planning to do a video on the Inner West road situation at any point; I live around Dulwich Hill and the "stroadification' of the main roads around here is intense, especially with all the high rises being built around poorly implemented main roads. Sydenham and Petersham road (not to mention king street in Newtown) are becoming worrisome. In any case, love your stuff, looking forward to your next video!
Another contender for the worst roundabout would be the Flushcombe Road/Bungarribee Road roundabout in Blacktown, that one requires extreme patience due to the angle of Bungaribee road and the unusual shape of the roundabout, more fun when you have pedestrians crossing as well as there are lights on all 4 exits.
yep when you have to add lights to the roundabout you know youre just better off redoing the whole thing as a normal intersection. unless its an edge case where the lights are just useful for say holiday traffic, as the roundabout on the princes highway in albion park was before the bypass.
To which I agree, the roundabout I mentioned in question had pedestrian activated traffic lights since forever which triggers all 4 sides into red once someone presses the pedestrian beg button, but once they cross, it becomes a frustrating challenge to even clear the roundabout due to the backlog of traffic.
@@JaseyRae oh thats a shit show i did not even think of. you cant let the pedestrians cross one side because people exiting that side can come from all directions. yet with a traffic light intersection there is at least some order to the chaos.
@@iris4547 so true, good thing with the DFO roundabout which is the subject of this video, the pedestrian lights are completely on demand depending on which exit of the intersection you’re driving on, which they’ll only put the drivers light on red on a single exit once the pedestrian presses the button, while all the other lanes are flowing freely except for the one exit. Couldn’t do that to Flushcombe Road / Bungaribee Road roundabout in Blacktown is actually quite small, so doing individually controlled pedestrian lights for the roundabout would’ve been on the too hard basket, I agree that they should completely rebuild it as a regular 4 way intersection for traffic light control.
This remind me of Britannia Roundabout in Adelaide. Five roads join at one weird shape roundabout that is full of trees. It has been rebuilt into two but still is a black spot
My only issue I really ever have is if I'm on Fullarton Road (Coming from the north), wanting to turn right onto Wakefield Street. Getting onto the roundabout is easy. But because how it's a double roundabout, i need to be in the right lane on the first, and left lane on the second. But you'll get some idiot coming from the other direction of Fullarton Road who wants to go straight, and sees the left lane clear and goes. I haven't trained my head to do a 450 around the second roundabout yet instead of changing lanes in the very short distance between the 2 roundabouts, simply because some idiot was selfish.
Having it rebuilt into two has made it even worse… the angle of that roundabout I swear must have flipped cars, I go around at not even 25km/h and I feel like a damn race car driver in the outside lane trying to fuckin manoeuvre it…
A diverging diamond is also on the cards for the Hume Hwy - Picton Rd junction. Another case of building housing developments without supporting infrastructure! I worked in DFO in 2007 and then again in 2015, and it was a nightmare getting in or out. Plenty of near misses!
Couldn't agree more. I've spent a long time on occasions waiting to get to the front of the queue at this roundabout. All it takes is one nervous and overly passive driver and the line just doesn't move.
amazing video ! thanks - hope this filters to those who implement designs. can you consider commenting on the runs along old windsor road and how the flow could be smoother - that whole area is becoming busier - something similar instead of traffic lights / more underpasses like the Norwest boulevard interchange ?
I travel through this roundabout several times a week... the problem is not the roundabout but the drivers not knowing/following the rules AND being hesitant I.E not confident in their actions.
Looks similar to the roundabout at Polding street and Smithfield road in Fairfield West. I have seen tow trucks parked and waiting near that roundabout on rainy days.... now for a tow truck to wait expectantly at an intersection like that, gives you an idea of how F-ing bad it is!
I used to live walking distance to DFO and on Saturdays at around 2pm you also had Flemington Markets 1km away causing traffic issues that could extend to DFO. Then if you also had a music festival or other event at the Olympic Park that day 💀💀💀
Brisbane has one of those diabolical navigation nightmares - the roundabout at Old Northern, Beckett, Queens & Rode Rds, complete with confusing lane markings.
The Haymarket roundabout at the top of Elizabeth St in Melbourne used to be worse than this one. Then they somehow put traffic lights in and order was bought to the area.
After driving at that roundabout for 3 years straight almost everyday, it ain't so bad and I eventually got used to it. Infact, I take great amusement watching drivers who are not used to the roundabout either: - almost ragequit - mistimed entry - giving BMW drivers a chance to finally rev their cars to the max when launching into the roundabout - watching people on the 525/526 buses sigh in painstaking expressions as their bus slowly crawls to the two bus stops near DFO People watching is fun at this intersection :D Probably the next best (or worst) roundabout Sydney is the A28 Cumberland Road/Polding Street interchange in Fairfield lol Great and informative video as always!
I haven't lived in Sydney (West Ryde) for 15 years and the second I saw the video's title I asked the question. Is it the roundabout at the DFO? What a nightmare when there's an event at Olympic Park.
I picked this as your choice of Sydney’s worst roundabouts before I even looked at the video. I thoroughly agree with your assessment. I used to work just nearby.
I remember being stopped at this roundabout 20+ years ago, not long after DFO opened, and thinking, "They really need to do something about this". Not really surprised that it has taken this long.
Then they can work out what to do with the exit from Centennial Avenue, which is what Homebush Bay Drive changes to, onto Parramatta Road through Marlborough Rd and which also gives access to Sydney Markets. Traffic through this will increase as they build new apartment blocks.
Yep I drive thru this roundabout daily and its always frustrating. Especially when getting off the A3, often piles up to the main road. By the way while you're there, you might as well check out the intersection of Bennelong Parkway and Hill Road jn Wentworth Point. Right turn onto Hill Rd is a constant traffic nightmare and god knows why they don't bother to just make it a properly signal controlled intersection.
Bennelong Parkway/Hill Road intersection should be a roundabout. Redesign the delta into a roundabout, and move the small carpark down the road a bit. Then you have the other end of Hill Road at Carter Street. Due to the poor design of the M4 on ramps, going down Hill road ends up in a jam with half of Sydney trying to do a U-turn at Carter Street so they can turn around and get onto the M4. The entire area's infrastructure is unsuitable for the amount of people in the area.
@@CraigJilbert Yep. It was probably fine before Wentworth Point got developed into high density residential area, but now its a choke point for everyone live there.
Bloody hell. It was like that before I left Sydney (2008) - With 15 years of development, it'd be even worse now. I honestly wouldn't be shocked if you told me it backs up all the way to Rhodes.
So glad I've ridden my bike to Sydney Olympic Park every time I've got, I've never even heard of this roundabout since I always take the shared paths through the mangroves
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
7:35 Queensland actually has 3 diverging diamond interchanges. Two of them are fully complete while the third is open with just minor works still to complete
Yes, I accidentally got onto one while trying to avoid congestion on the M1. Almost had an accident as the right turn was much sharper than I was expecting on a freeway exit...
I had the unfortunate luck of attempting this roundabout in a torrential rain in a beat up old car as a recent P plater. Missed another car by inches. Truly a scary experience. The angry honks all those years ago still ring in my ears
I used to encounter this roundabout when I took my younger sibling to volleyball training and games during the off peak hours. Even then it’s still stupid
I like how you demonstrated the speed of the input flow (walking speed) without saying how slow it actually is. $100m in NSW State Govt dollars is at least $250m in reality.
I’ve never been to this roundabout but the one on polding st underneath the Cumberland hwy is worse sometimes in the morning there are tow trucks waiting but in the afternoon there is probably about 2-3 waiting for a accident to happen😅
You will want to go there if you have kids. The Blaxland River Park is a very nice park. Then the SOPA is a very nice indoor swimming pool that's crowded with people.
I was astounded when I returned to Perth for a visit a few years ago to find the traffic light intersection between major arterials High Street and Stirling Highway had been changed to a giant multi-lane roundabout. Seemed to work, but I only went around twice during my trip.
I really liked this video. There was a problem which I have no connection to (as I don’t live in Sydney) but you made me invested into fixing this issue. And I must say that the solution was very satisfactory 😊 Only problem is that the music in the background sounds a little bit like a fire alarm.
I think that road planners need to look much further into the future as it will save a world of hurt later. That location is bad now, imagine 2/3 years of road works, only to find very little improvement, I hope it is better than that but you just don't know till the end.
I’m impressed by your ability to get shots from various angles at the roundabout. Must’ve had fun crossing the road!
Thank you! Yes, crossed the road many times. Probably caused a lot of traffic myself in doing so!
You should have tried the roundabout BEFORE the flyover was built. Only the Smithfield and Miranda Five-Ways roundabouts rival this one.
I agree. I knew where it was before you said it. Crazy.
Legally you can fly a drone in Bressington Park that's next to it so....
Nothing beats the massive round-a-bouts in Melbourne that casually also have tram lines going straight through the middle.
Mt Alexander Rd, North Essendon. I've lived in both cities and haven't seen a worse roundabout.
Or when three roundabouts are chained together. (Mooroolbark)
@James I Yep, I lived in Moonee Ponds a few years back, and driving through that was like a free roller-coaster ride with real life consequences.
Geez I hated driving in Melbourne.
The Haymarket roundabout was far worse than Mt Alexander Rd. It has four tram lines entering and exiting. Now it has traffic lights.
There is one in Hobart that takes some navigation skill because it is a light controlled round a bout, I don't live in Hobart anymore but used to avoid it. I rarely go to Homebush but to think that 30 years ago they did not imagine the future traffic and yet the Harbour bridge was designed with the coming century in mind.
Drove through it yesterday for maybe the thousandth time, you have truth in advertising. It would be great to monitor the stress levels, heart rate and breathing pattern of drivers approaching that roundabout. It's the only roundabout i drive through where i celebrate a successful manoeuvre each time.
the only problem of that roundabout is that there are a few too many cars and people are impatient. otherwise it is perfectly okay.
Man…the number of people saying the Fairfield Polding Street Roundabout is worse 🤣🤣 guess I’ll have to make a video about that sometime!
Love the channel and content Sharath. I reside in the hills also. Perhaps you could do an episode about Galston gorge. It's had its fair share of controversy over the years😆.
Well done mate.
We
Do remember that you have to comply with CC BY for the Diverging Diamond interchange image.
omg I was about to comment about that one, but then I figured someone else must have said something. Please do a video on that one next, I will subscribe so hard. It's such a mess!
I live 10 minutes drive from that roundabout and I hate it! Very happy to see you making a video on it!
Hello fellow Rhodes resident
It really is awful!
In the '70's and '80's I lived one minute from the 9 ways roundabout at Kingsford...had to do my driving test through it. Been cleaned up now with the light rail going through it. Now I live 5 minutes from this one...such is life.
Haha. I drove around it a dozen times one evening to get everyone in the car sick, sort of anyway.
Honestly the best thing about the light rail is that it fixed that intersection... sort of. Now it's pretty hard to turn right from Bunnerong Road into Rainbow Street
My driving instructor said if I could master 9 Ways I was ready for my driving test!
I used to be a taxi driver, and I loved that round about! The lights that have replaced it don't allow you to take any road, like the round about did. They also don't allow a U-turn. I would frequently lament the light rail killing what I thought was Sydney's best round-about.
We have a similar sized roundabout next to the test site in Luxembourg. Luckily they put red lights on it now and those lanes that 8/10 times make it impossible to mistake, but 2/10 times makes it guaranteed to get it wrong😂
Lol that roundabout is just Sydney doing what it does best - throwing in huge amounts of people with zero changes to infrastructure. You should check out the fairy meadow roundabout that had *several* trucks plow into the nearby macca's drive through... with all the apartments they're building nearby it's quickly becoming an absolute bloodbath.!
Huh, funny seeing you here...
I avoid that roundabout in peak hours like the plague.
I live in Wollongong, it doesn’t get too congested so I think it’s fine
I often find it hard to explain to non-Sydney sides how bad this roundabout it is. I finally have a video to help articulate it! Thank you!
Even with 8,000 roundabouts, there only seem to be about 23 drivers in the whole country who know to give a left indicator when exiting the roundabout. There also seem to be a lot who actually think they should give a right blinker when going straight ahead at a 4 way roundabout.
The Polding road/Smithfield road/Cumberland hwy roundabout at Fairfield/Wetherill Park is just as bad, if not worse.
I thought this video was about that one at first, I've nearly been cleaned up there so many times. I now avoid it like the plague.
@@rhubarbisdeadsame I thought that too I travel on it a lot it’s a bad one
Your channel is so unique, informative, and locally relevant - Love it! (And HATE that roundabout and the traffic that banks up on its approaches when there are events on at Olympic Park)
Never driven that roundabout myself, always took the train to Olympic Park the few times I went. I'd say that there's a little roundabout in Smithfield that may offer a challenge to that Homebush one. That was one I used quite often in my younger days, living out at Bonnyrigg. I'd even take the overpass and jump off at Canley Vale Rd just to avoid it, even though it took a little longer to get back home and required backtracking.
Yeah a lot of people are debating over which roundabout is worse. Put a poll up on Twitter and so far the DFO roundabout is winning as worse haha. As bad as the Smithfield one is, I don’t think it gets quite as congested.
Bong on Bonnyrigg.
Yep, intersection of The Cumberland Highway and Polding Street. There was a time when that intersection had NO overpass and all traffic flowed through the roundabout and It was known as the most dangerous intersection in Australia. At it's worst, there was an accident every 15 minutes on that roundabout. There was dozens of towtrucks in attendance lining the footpaths at all hours of the day and night. Several fatalities there as well.
Hey that roundabout is a South West Sydney icon, Just remember when heading towards Livo always use the left lane and use the trucks in the right lane as a shield for on coming traffic.
The Five Ways Miranda roundabout was notorious for minor accidents in the 90's. During peak hours tow trucks would park curbside at the roundabout's entries waiting to be the first on the scene of an accident.
Does anyone remember when the interesection of Polding Street and the cumberland highway was a roundabout, before the construction of the overpass? Same deal, tow trucks all over the place! I cannot substantiate it, but I recall hearing that before the overpass it had an accident rate of one per 15 minutes. It's still a dangerous intersection even now, but nothing like the bad old days.
Yep, I concur with the Miranda 5 ways. That's why they are traffic lights now.. Partly due to ignorant Shire drivers. Also Tradies on 3pm rush to the pub conflicting with Mum's with no brains picking up kids thinking it's all about them.
it's probably the one where port hacking roads and the rest meet, with Mercedes dealership on the corner. I can imagine the carnage.. australians aren't usually that great with roundabouts
Yep Aussie's really can't do roundabouts lol
the Five Ways was GREAT in it's time - except for peak. The 'trouble' with it was that it was two laned - which confused the feck out of so many people - except us locals. Now, it's been made WORSE by having so many lanes STOPPED. The solution would have been an overpass or tunnel... but of course nothing like that could EVER be done in Australia.
Back with another banger? Good on you building beautifully!
This round about when concert's are on at the stadium is absolutely insane.
who drives to a concert?
@@iris4547 you’d be bloody surprised. I’ve been on a bus that was a whole hour late through there just because of the idiots that thought driving to a concert was a good idea. The actual solution is probably a dedicated bus lane to incentivise changing modes bc right now the buses that run through there are deeply unreliable
Oh I can imagine
.... As are people who DRIVE to a concert in Olympic Park!
@@iris4547 alot of public transport that's who
Hello Sharath,here is an idea for a video. The Alexandra Canal. In case you you don't know, Alexandra Canal starts at Cooks River and heads towards Sydney Harbour. In the late 1800's,the intention was to build a navigable waterway between Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour, they built about 4 kilometers, then the project was abandoned.It's an interesting story, I know you will do a great job telling it..if you want.
It was also involved in the relocation of Cooks River around the airport, as the airport was expanded.
My vote for worst roundabout is where the M1 meets the Princes Highway at Oak Flats (just south of Wollongong). Not only are there cars going in every direction, but there are actual traffic lights around the roundabout itself! You look right to see if you can move onto the round about, only to then look forward to see everyone in front of you on the roundabout has stopped! Crazy.
Those lights slowed traffic massively and have caused alot more accidents
the lights on that intersection absolutely wreak havoc since the road additions
Honestly the presentation quality, humor, and editing here in this channel is such a glowup. Keep up the good work.
Thank you 😊
Impressed that a video about roundabouts made me chuckle, good stuff mate!
So true. Worst most dangerous roundabout. Crazy that nothing was done to make it safer
You couldn't be more accurate! I had a car accident on that roundabout on my way to HSC English exam marking - slammed into by a hit and run driver but lucky for me & my passenger, my swerving avoided a stronger impact.. It's notoriously dangerous. Every time it's running a gauntlet of risks just to get to Australia Avenue!
There were several roundabouts in the Newcastle area that were so disastrous for traffic flow that they had to demolish them and turn them into traffic lights, the Lake Rd/Thomas St (at the eastern end of the Newcastle link road) and Weakleys Dr/John Renshaw Dr (at the Northern end of the M1) are two examples.
There's also the one on the western edge of the Link Road which intersects between the Link Road/Hunter Expressway and Cameron Park Drive/Woodford Street that was once a roundabout as well and was replaced with traffic lights for the same reason.
Why not roundabout with lights
The advantage is that you can switch off the lights from 23h-6h
@Blanco there's one that is further up that road where the Newcastle Inner City Bypass currently meets up with Newcastle Road at Jesmond, which is a roundabout but has lights where the eastbound of Newcastle Road crosses over the northbound lane of the Inner City Bypass, but it's going to be removed because of the extension of the Bypass to link up with the southern end of the Bypass at New Lambton Heights, which is currently starting to be constructed.
Try lookin at the roundabout at Oak Flats NSW near Shellharbour at the M1 Princess Highway
Yes that's a superb example of crap design. How many hundreds of millions of dollars did that bypass cost? Great if you're going from Sydney to Kiama, rubbish for anyone in Albion Park or Shellharbour.
Than again that orbital ring was there for years so it was always a disaster waiting to happen.
I built those traffic lights. Lol
Definitely unnecessarily complicated . All the shoehorned upgrades make it have the worst features of traffic lights and a roundabout.
There’s also a couple of massive roundabouts in Diamond Valley in Melbourne which were recently removed and replaced with intersections with traffic lights because of there being too much traffic for the roundabouts to handle! :)
Eltham and Templestowe roundabouts got removed, the volume of cars was simply too high and people trying to go 80kmh through them too...
I used to work right there in the 90s it was formally a Woolworths Distribution Centre before DFO took over all it was there was the roundabout always busy but not like todays busy !!!
This is literally why I dislike going to DFO Homebush, this roundabout gets me confused every time I go there
I used to live near here and would walk to the park near there sometimes, but I would have done it a lot more were it not for that cooked roundabout. I remember thinking once when walking past, "Damn I don't know how anyone drives through this thing," then seconds later a car ran into another car. Great to see a video on this absolute spectacle of faeces. That diverging diamond looks sick too.
Well done with that intro bro! Had me cackling for a while.
EDIT the whole video is hilarious
That's not Sydney's worst roundabout, that honour goes to the one in Fairfield between Cumberland Hwy and Polding St
Giving me flashbacks to the old seven hills rd - old windsor rd roundabout
Sydney's most infuriating roundabout, I argue Polding st/Smithfield Rd roundabout between Smithfield and Fairfield West under Cumberland Hwy is wayyy dodgier. Every time I'm there I see near misses haha
I came here via Reddit, and this was way more entertaining and interesting than I thought it would be! Great video. I have driven through this roundabout exactly once, and have avoided it ever since.
I love how random people keep posting my stuff to Reddit 🤣 I stay away in case of negativity which I find somewhat common over there haha. Thanks for watching!
@@BuildingBeautifully Some selected comment highlights for you from the post I came from:
"I'm really impressed with this kid. / Sydney needs somebody to break through the anti-intellectual, gate keeping, cultural-cringe worshiping bullshit." and "Sharath is awesome, I've been through lots of his videos in the last couple of weeks" and "He's so awesome. And every video he does he is getting WAY more comfortable being on camera and cracking jokes. He's the best" aaaand "So this is Sharath from Building Beautifully, and he's the best. Everyone should go subscribe to his channel. / I'm not Sharath, I just love historic infrastructure stuff and he's great at it."
As a beginner driver who frequently used Hombush Bay drive roundabout, I had near misses a lot there, and I still get nervous every time I need to go past here.
I'm glad they're finally changing that nightmare once and for all.
Also we need to talking about massive traffic parramatta road x A3 x Arthur st .
Its still huge disaster of A3 morning and night😢
7:39 also, QLD has three: M1/SR6 in Caloundra, M1/SR6 in Burleigh Heads, and M3/SR58 in Bald Hills.
Out of all your videos, this is among the funniest. Keep up the quality content as always 👍
DFO and that roundabout...A special kind of hell
$100 million now where else have we heard that figure recently regarding NSW transport infrastructure 🤔
Thank you for featuring the Eelup roundabout. I’ve been through that thing so many times. Can’t imagine what it would be like with no traffic lights.
Why am I here in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe so invested in a roundabout in Sydney, Australia?
Another great instalment, I’ve had the displeasure of playing roundabout roulette there many a afternoon. My blood pressure has improved since I no longer need to travel in the area.
Thank you! Yes, such a horrible roundabout for real
I went to DFO once and vowed never again solely because of trying to navigate this crazy roundabout. People call the Polding Street/Cumberland Highway awful but DFO is insanely worse.
And to think, in 2000 I received a large compensation payout and was looking at buying a home in Newington in cash in full. I decided on another location instead. I thought I regretted not going ahead with the purchase. Not anymore. My house is in a tiny unknown suburb with no flow through traffic. It's so quiet and peaceful, I get cows, ducks walking across my front lawn and woken up by a rooster at the local primary school.
Good decision. Newington not good
@@z_unknown I checked. If I had bought the house I was looking at, today it would be worth $2 million. That's why at first I regretted it. My house is only worth $1 million. But the peace and quiet is more than worth the money lost. There are only two organisations in my suburb. A primary school and a day care centre. There are only three streets and it's a dead end suburb with only 800 residents (not houses). It's been here since the 80's and my house backs onto a large private property with horses grazing on it. I watch the sunset every night over it. And I'm in Sydney.
Nicely explained!
Would you be able to make a video about the Nine Ways in Kingsford? It is seriously causing so much issue after the huge roundabout is removed.
I like how you used footage of diverging diamond interchanges from America and flipped them so the cars drove on the left instead of the right.
Ah yes you noticed! It was stock footage that I was allowed to use for free but I had to flip it!
There are at least 2 in Qld. Strathpine Rd over the Bruce Hwy, and the Caloundra Rd exit off the Bruce.
Got taken out by a big kenwood truck yesterday while turning right onto Homebush Bay Drive. I used the inner lane like a normal roundabout. He was turning right from homebush bay road on the outer lane . Turned into me as I was exiting I guess he diddnt see me next to him. Technically, we were both following the rules. First roundabout I've ever seen in Australia with two right turn lanes. Now I've got a brand new car ( two weeks old) with a busted side panel 😭 Just insane.
Awww man the nostalgia of me shitting bricks on my L's driving around this roundabout. Great quality content as always man!
Love your sence of humour Sharath, it seems to be growing every upload.
Thanks, Sharath, I've learnt something new, today. Up until now, I had never heard of a diverging diamond. It looks like an interesting idea to fix the problem in Homebush.
People generally treat that intersection as drag race instead of slowly moving and giving away to other drivers. I see DFO as primary reason. Whenever the DFO is closed, the round about is calm. And weekends it's a parking lot. Esp from homebush bay Dr to a3 or Olympic park.
Yeh. Never understand why they don't force DFO to rebuild the entrance on the other side to at least create space..
Just restrict their traffic flow till they get the message.
Come see the roundabout at oak flats, it’s got traffic lights, dual lanes, highways, motorways, Suburban roads and it’s so stupid, meanwhile there’s a second roundabout 50 meters away that makes it worse
11 comments(at time of writing) and two of them are about this roundabout. It's a disaster.
Lol I actually put those lights in and I cant agree more with you.
Your videos just get better and better Sharath! It is always a joy to see you post!
Crazy to think it’s taking that long. The MP for Reid announced at the 2019 election that they were allocating funding to the project. Everything takes so long here!
Great video! speaking of 'hindsight-based' road design, would love if you're planning to do a video on the Inner West road situation at any point; I live around Dulwich Hill and the "stroadification' of the main roads around here is intense, especially with all the high rises being built around poorly implemented main roads. Sydenham and Petersham road (not to mention king street in Newtown) are becoming worrisome. In any case, love your stuff, looking forward to your next video!
Another contender for the worst roundabout would be the Flushcombe Road/Bungarribee Road roundabout in Blacktown, that one requires extreme patience due to the angle of Bungaribee road and the unusual shape of the roundabout, more fun when you have pedestrians crossing as well as there are lights on all 4 exits.
yep when you have to add lights to the roundabout you know youre just better off redoing the whole thing as a normal intersection. unless its an edge case where the lights are just useful for say holiday traffic, as the roundabout on the princes highway in albion park was before the bypass.
To which I agree, the roundabout I mentioned in question had pedestrian activated traffic lights since forever which triggers all 4 sides into red once someone presses the pedestrian beg button, but once they cross, it becomes a frustrating challenge to even clear the roundabout due to the backlog of traffic.
@@JaseyRae oh thats a shit show i did not even think of. you cant let the pedestrians cross one side because people exiting that side can come from all directions. yet with a traffic light intersection there is at least some order to the chaos.
@@iris4547 so true, good thing with the DFO roundabout which is the subject of this video, the pedestrian lights are completely on demand depending on which exit of the intersection you’re driving on, which they’ll only put the drivers light on red on a single exit once the pedestrian presses the button, while all the other lanes are flowing freely except for the one exit.
Couldn’t do that to Flushcombe Road / Bungaribee Road roundabout in Blacktown is actually quite small, so doing individually controlled pedestrian lights for the roundabout would’ve been on the too hard basket, I agree that they should completely rebuild it as a regular 4 way intersection for traffic light control.
This remind me of Britannia Roundabout in Adelaide. Five roads join at one weird shape roundabout that is full of trees. It has been rebuilt into two but still is a black spot
word, terrible roundabout. avoid at all costs.
As someone who uses this roundabout everyday I would love for this to be implemented elsewhere
My only issue I really ever have is if I'm on Fullarton Road (Coming from the north), wanting to turn right onto Wakefield Street. Getting onto the roundabout is easy. But because how it's a double roundabout, i need to be in the right lane on the first, and left lane on the second. But you'll get some idiot coming from the other direction of Fullarton Road who wants to go straight, and sees the left lane clear and goes. I haven't trained my head to do a 450 around the second roundabout yet instead of changing lanes in the very short distance between the 2 roundabouts, simply because some idiot was selfish.
Having it rebuilt into two has made it even worse… the angle of that roundabout I swear must have flipped cars, I go around at not even 25km/h and I feel like a damn race car driver in the outside lane trying to fuckin manoeuvre it…
A diverging diamond is also on the cards for the Hume Hwy - Picton Rd junction. Another case of building housing developments without supporting infrastructure!
I worked in DFO in 2007 and then again in 2015, and it was a nightmare getting in or out. Plenty of near misses!
Couldn't agree more. I've spent a long time on occasions waiting to get to the front of the queue at this roundabout. All it takes is one nervous and overly passive driver and the line just doesn't move.
amazing video ! thanks - hope this filters to those who implement designs. can you consider commenting on the runs along old windsor road and how the flow could be smoother - that whole area is becoming busier - something similar instead of traffic lights / more underpasses like the Norwest boulevard interchange ?
Yeah I’ve always thought there’s enough space at the Sunnyholt Road intersection for grade separation
I read the tile and Instantly thought of this roundabout and the one at Fairfield under he Cumberland Highway/Polding St/King st.
I travel through this roundabout several times a week... the problem is not the roundabout but the drivers not knowing/following the rules AND being hesitant I.E not confident in their actions.
Great Video. I used to use this one a lot from 2009 to 2020 and had more near accidents there than I care to remember.
Looks similar to the roundabout at Polding street and Smithfield road in Fairfield West.
I have seen tow trucks parked and waiting near that roundabout on rainy days.... now for a tow truck to wait expectantly at an intersection like that, gives you an idea of how F-ing bad it is!
Here in Georgia the GDOT has installed a bunch of these diverging diamonds over the past few years. They help so much
I like the ones in Queensland as well. They're a bit weird at first but traffic flow is vastly improved and getting onto the highway is far easier.
I used to live walking distance to DFO and on Saturdays at around 2pm you also had Flemington Markets 1km away causing traffic issues that could extend to DFO. Then if you also had a music festival or other event at the Olympic Park that day 💀💀💀
Brisbane has one of those diabolical navigation nightmares - the roundabout at Old Northern, Beckett, Queens & Rode Rds, complete with confusing lane markings.
love your humour, Sharath! I really hope the DDI goes ahead.
Thank you 😊
Fascinating video! Thanks for putting this together!
The Haymarket roundabout at the top of Elizabeth St in Melbourne used to be worse than this one. Then they somehow put traffic lights in and order was bought to the area.
They somehow brought together a mass of roads and 3 tram lines together in one roundabout
@@Detrabot Strictly speaking, one of team routes (58) doesn't enter the roundabout proper. It turns off about 40m short of it.
After driving at that roundabout for 3 years straight almost everyday, it ain't so bad and I eventually got used to it. Infact, I take great amusement watching drivers who are not used to the roundabout either:
- almost ragequit
- mistimed entry
- giving BMW drivers a chance to finally rev their cars to the max when launching into the roundabout
- watching people on the 525/526 buses sigh in painstaking expressions as their bus slowly crawls to the two bus stops near DFO
People watching is fun at this intersection :D Probably the next best (or worst) roundabout Sydney is the A28 Cumberland Road/Polding Street interchange in Fairfield lol
Great and informative video as always!
Haha, all valid points. Ive used this roundabout every weekend for almost 14 years straight so those are pretty accurate.
Accidentally stumbled upon this roundabout a week after getting my Ls. It was nothing short of a near-death experience.
I wonder why the sidewalks aren’t in the middle of the interchange in the diverging section.
I haven't lived in Sydney (West Ryde) for 15 years and the second I saw the video's title I asked the question. Is it the roundabout at the DFO?
What a nightmare when there's an event at Olympic Park.
I picked this as your choice of Sydney’s worst roundabouts before I even looked at the video. I thoroughly agree with your assessment. I used to work just nearby.
I was once stuck on underwood road for almost 40 minutes waiting to get through. It is absolutely diabolical...
There's a roundabout in Blacktown, that's small but also frustratingly hard at times
I remember being stopped at this roundabout 20+ years ago, not long after DFO opened, and thinking, "They really need to do something about this". Not really surprised that it has taken this long.
Enjoying seeing how you get more and more comfortable in front of the camera
Then they can work out what to do with the exit from Centennial Avenue, which is what Homebush Bay Drive changes to, onto Parramatta Road through Marlborough Rd and which also gives access to Sydney Markets. Traffic through this will increase as they build new apartment blocks.
this is my favourite video by you. idk what you did differently; amazing
Yep I drive thru this roundabout daily and its always frustrating. Especially when getting off the A3, often piles up to the main road.
By the way while you're there, you might as well check out the intersection of Bennelong Parkway and Hill Road jn Wentworth Point. Right turn onto Hill Rd is a constant traffic nightmare and god knows why they don't bother to just make it a properly signal controlled intersection.
Bennelong Parkway/Hill Road intersection should be a roundabout. Redesign the delta into a roundabout, and move the small carpark down the road a bit.
Then you have the other end of Hill Road at Carter Street. Due to the poor design of the M4 on ramps, going down Hill road ends up in a jam with half of Sydney trying to do a U-turn at Carter Street so they can turn around and get onto the M4.
The entire area's infrastructure is unsuitable for the amount of people in the area.
Oh yeah that one is awful too. If I ever do a video on Wentworth Point that intersection will be mentioned for sure.
@@CraigJilbert Yep. It was probably fine before Wentworth Point got developed into high density residential area, but now its a choke point for everyone live there.
Bloody hell. It was like that before I left Sydney (2008) - With 15 years of development, it'd be even worse now. I honestly wouldn't be shocked if you told me it backs up all the way to Rhodes.
@@riggy1990 It actually does back up to Rhodes most of the weekdays now during afternoon peak.
Great video. Heaps of improvement since you started. Only yesterday was I thinking this was a crap roundabout.
So glad I've ridden my bike to Sydney Olympic Park every time I've got, I've never even heard of this roundabout since I always take the shared paths through the mangroves
You are SOOOO funny - I love it - the only roundabout where I have nearly had an accident
Diverging diamonds are a nightmare for pedestrians and cyclists. Trust Australia to choose the cheaper mediocre option once again.
Not sure why a flyover for through-traffic in the other direction (east-west) wouldn't be the simplest solution instead of some crazy diamond intersection. Any intersection with traffic lights will cause more congestion and inconvenience, especially if it has cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
I remember this was listed as an accident blackspot by the federal government. Not sure about now.
7:35 Queensland actually has 3 diverging diamond interchanges. Two of them are fully complete while the third is open with just minor works still to complete
Yes, I accidentally got onto one while trying to avoid congestion on the M1. Almost had an accident as the right turn was much sharper than I was expecting on a freeway exit...
I had the unfortunate luck of attempting this roundabout in a torrential rain in a beat up old car as a recent P plater. Missed another car by inches. Truly a scary experience. The angry honks all those years ago still ring in my ears
Hello there, that roundabout entry scene was wonderful
In Australia, 7994 out of its 8000 roundabouts are in the Sunshine Coast
you misspelt newcastle
Clearly you've never been to a suburb in Western Sydney called Glenmore Park
@@peepeetrain8755 newcastle/central coast and glenmore park are certainly up there, but noosa heads in sunshine coast stomps both of them
I once work at Underwood Rd and trying to get home on a Saturday was about a 1.5 hour trip 1 hour was to get passed this roundabout.
I used to encounter this roundabout when I took my younger sibling to volleyball training and games during the off peak hours. Even then it’s still stupid
I like how you demonstrated the speed of the input flow (walking speed) without saying how slow it actually is.
$100m in NSW State Govt dollars is at least $250m in reality.
Double the expected time too.
The right turn from left lane being allowed has resulted in me seeing many people coming undone.
this is so accurate, its like driving into a circus with multiple blindspots worst roundabout in sydney.
Thanks for the video, I was t-boned exactly here at the 0:45 mark :’) good perspective to see how it all happened lol
I’ve never been to this roundabout but the one on polding st underneath the Cumberland hwy is worse sometimes in the morning there are tow trucks waiting but in the afternoon there is probably about 2-3 waiting for a accident to happen😅
This roundabout is so infamous by anybody who has even been to the remote desert called “Sydney Olympic Park” that it can have its own slander video!
You will want to go there if you have kids. The Blaxland River Park is a very nice park. Then the SOPA is a very nice indoor swimming pool that's crowded with people.
I was astounded when I returned to Perth for a visit a few years ago to find the traffic light intersection between major arterials High Street and Stirling Highway had been changed to a giant multi-lane roundabout. Seemed to work, but I only went around twice during my trip.
I really liked this video. There was a problem which I have no connection to (as I don’t live in Sydney) but you made me invested into fixing this issue. And I must say that the solution was very satisfactory 😊
Only problem is that the music in the background sounds a little bit like a fire alarm.
I think that road planners need to look much further into the future as it will save a world of hurt later. That location is bad now, imagine 2/3 years of road works, only to find very little improvement, I hope it is better than that but you just don't know till the end.