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Roundabouts have been a popular system for intersections outside downtown zones in urban areas in Switzerland for more than 10 years. One form of small roundabout becoming more common in Switzerland is the system with short two-lane approaches and a single-lane extrawide circulatory roadway. Research shows that small roundabouts with two-lane entries with a single-lane extrawide circulatory roadway have capacities 20% to 30% higher than those with single-lane entries, although the space requirements are almost identical. The fact that roundabouts with two-lane entries and a single-lane extrawide circulatory roadway have shown good performance with respect to capacity, traffic flow, and driver behavior, as well as a high level of safety, has led to an increasing use of this type of roundabout in Switzerland.

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The design of roads and of the road environment for main thoroughfares in rural communities has changed completely in many countries over recent years. Previously, road planning revolved around capacity and road safety, whereas today the design of roads and of the road environment includes a wide variety of safety and usage requirements. The new planning and design principles that were developed and introduced in the 1990s–above all, those of the linkage and the compartmentalization of space around and along roads, and the rejection of traffic separation in favor of mixed traffic–have led to usable public spaces in the centers of provincial towns and villages in Switzerland. The consequences are lower speeds and greater recognition–and thus, consideration–of the traffic activity on the sides. Road safety can therefore be boosted for all road users. The present article describes the way in which the philosophy of planning has changed and the experiences that have arisen from such changes.