I remember when they installed one out in Littleton (suburban Denver) - it flows traffic spectacularly but it took years, maybe even a decade for people to get used to it.
I once came upon it and found a full size four door sedan in the (raised) island in the middle with four befuddled teenagers standing around shaking their heads. They had plowed into the traffic circle straight ahead, jumped the raised embankment and landed right in the center island.
As a Coloradan, this is something that we have been especially hard hit by. More and more people are living in/around our national forests in the mountains. Naturally, they don't want to deal with fires, nor the remnants left behind (charred landscape for a decade or more.)
But as this article alludes to, it has to burn. It does naturally. We have to let go - we are wasting valuable resources to fight these fires. People have _died_ fighting these fires. And for what? So your house doesn't burn down?
I'm sorry, but a fire is typically a slow-moving natural disaster. It rarely strikes without a fair warning. I've been saying for years now that if you live in a potential burn area, know where your irreplaceables are, carry fire insurance, evacuate and LET IT BURN.
I once came upon it and found a full size four door sedan in the (raised) island in the middle with four befuddled teenagers standing around shaking their heads. They had plowed into the traffic circle straight ahead, jumped the raised embankment and landed right in the center island.