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The first traffic circle, or roundabout, in America is listed as Columbus Circle in New York City. It was designed by William Phelps Eno in 1905. Mr. Eno is considered the father of modern traffic concepts. He developed the crosswalk, stop sign, and other concepts and tools that we consider commonplace today.
A traffic circle is an intersection format that allows traffic to change directions by moving around a circle pattern until the direction desired is obtained. Traffic circles are common in Europe. Here in America, the traffic circle lost popularity and most were removed by the 1950s, but there has been a rebirth of use in recent years.
The East North Broadway street circles were originally platted to be 100 feet in radius. Clinton Sharon Pike (Indianola) was 56 feet wide. Beech Hill (Calumet) was 60 feet wide. North Broadway was separated into three “lanes.” The north and south lanes were 30 feet wide. The middle lane was 24 feet wide. The width of the path around the circle was 30 feet. The three lanes appear to be divided by 8-feet paths, possibly dotted by trees. The same three-lane concept was incorporated into the design of Broad Street in downtown Columbus.
The circle at Clinton Sharon had an “x” path running east-west and north-south. The circle at Beech Hill only has an east-west division. One might conclude that the purpose of the circles could have been to allow a street car to drive east and west in the middle lane of East North Broadway while still allowing traffic on outside lanes access to the north-southbound streets of Beech Hill and Clinton Sharon Pike. The circle at Clinton Sharon Pike might have accommodated another street car running north and south on that road.
If the East North Broadway street circles truly carried vehicular traffic in a circular pattern, they would have preceded Columbus Circle and would potentially claim the prize of being the first traffic circles in North America.
