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Hertfordshire traffic: The story behind Hemel Hempstead's magic roundabout and the chaos of its first day

We can already hear the sigh as soon as we mention Hemel Hempstead’s Magic Roundabout.

It’s either because you think we’re, once again, criticising an efficient and ingenious piece of planning to get into or out of Hemel.

Or, it’s because you can’t stand to look at it, as a confusing mess of mini-roundabouts and cars coming in every direction.

Whatever your opinion, there is always the big question - why does it even exist?

Even if you think it’s the best idea ever, surely questions have to be asked about what’s going through the head of someone who wants to take the risk of building six mini-roundabouts in the same place.

Why was the Magic Roundabout built?

The Plough Roundabout - as its actually called - opened in 1973, following the lead of Swindon’s terrifying five-roundabout junction.

That roundabout was built in 1972 and looks a lot more intimidating than Hemel’s, even if it has one fewer turn.

The use of an anticlockwise inner circle makes it even more confusing to look at than the Plough, but it does offer more direct paths to each exit.

And the Plough needed something to make it a little more efficient.

Before its current design, it was a simple junction before being converted into a simple roundabout when Hemel became a new town in 1947.

However, soon the Plough was plagued with congestion, and this was hoped to keep traffic moving much more easily.

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The day it opened

The Magic Roundabout shortly after opening - with a handful of cars on the wrong side of the road (Image: Cathcam/CC 4.0)

On the Hertfordshire County Council’s archive website there is a page dedicated to the roundabout, and there are a couple of mentions of the ‘who dares wins’ experience of the first day.

It adds that: “It caused so much confusion when it opened in 1973 that policemen had to be stationed at each of the mini-roundabouts to direct clueless motorists, who were no doubt shouting, crying and looking utterly confused.”

Someone in the comments, who claims to have been there on the day of its opening, noted that there were a number of police cars blocking the roundabout until it was officially opened with the dropping of a flag and a whistle.

As the roundabout prepared to open, cars backed up on the surrounding road. Then, at 8am on the dot one official blew his whistle, dropped his flag and the police left as chaos ruled.

In the image above you can see a couple of cars still going down the wrong lane and on the wrong side of the road, so drivers definitely had to go through a bit of a learning experience.

Thankfully, after a couple of days those early teething problems were ironed out and locals can speed their way around it with ease now.

48 years on

The design of the roundabout now is pretty much identical to how it is 48 years on, so something has clearly gone right.

Hemel can also boast a much nicer looking Magic Roundabout than Swindon, which has a tiny centre and is almost entirely tarmac.

Instead we’ve got a bit of green space, including ducks and a river, so in a battle of these controversial junctions Hemel is a clear winner.

According to a 2005 poll, however, the Plough was voted the second worst roundabout in the country, just behind Swindon’s version - which is a win itself, really.

That being said, it probably isn’t too surprising that the rest of the country has decided not to bother replicating the idea.

When our reporter Alice went for a visit she was fazed by the approach but found it wasn’t as bad

That being said, some colleagues may have admitted to having a few close calls since.

In a county that’s full of ambitious post-war projects, there’s plenty of unique quirks and this is one of our favourites.

And, at the very least, it’s a way of spotting which drivers are born and bred Hemel, and who is just pretending.

Plough Roundabout aka the 'Magic Roundabout'

Originally one large roundabout, the Plough roundabout was redesigned to alleviate congestion problems. It was during this renovation that the Plough roundabout became the well-known, and somewhat well-loved, feature it is today. It now consists of the one large roundabout, surrounded by six mini-roundabouts (for each of the six original junctions) and actually entitles motorists to turn right at the roundabout.

Policemen to direct motorists

If finding yourself going anti-clockwise on a roundabout in Britain does not confuse you, nothing probably will. It caused so much confusion when it opened in 1973 that policemen had to be stationed at each of the mini-roundabouts to direct clueless motorists, who were no doubt shouting, crying and looking utterly confused. Described as a ‘who dares wins’ experience, the Plough roundabout pretty much renders all highway-code books obsolete.

Add your comment about this page

The photo by Alan Willmott of the Plough Junction (now the Magic Roundabout) includes the Triangle Cafe as mentioned in the Childhood Memories of Hemel Hempstead 1938-1949 By Wendy Godfrey on page:
http://www.hertsmemories.org.uk/content/herts-history/towns-and-villages/hemel-hempstead/dacorum-u3a/childhood-memories

the memory of one bright morning in 1973 will stay with me for the rest of my days – The day they opened the ‘Funny Roundabout’. I was a postman working out of Hemel Sorting Office in Waterhouse Street and on my way out to do an early morning collection, wondered why the traffic was at a standstil Managed to reach the Plough roundabout, only to find all entrances from the Marlowes right round to the Leighton Buzzard road, blocked by police cars In the grreen bit in the middle of the rouindabout was a zip-up tower manned by a guy with a whistle and a flag.. as I watched,stunned by the amount of traffic backed up on all the roads onto the roundabout. A whistle blew, a flag was waved and the police cars beat a hasty retreat and the traffic started to swarm. result – ABSOLUTE CHAOS. I can’t recall just how long it took to restore some kind of order, but when I got back to the Sorting Office some time later, the ‘Guvnor’ was become extremely anxious about his lack of staff. I wonder why?

Not altogether sure of the date, but I was a postman working out of Hemel Sorting Office. at 7.30 am on the day of the opening of the new roundabout. all entrances to the Plough roundabout were blocked by police cars in the middle of the roundabout, a zip- up tower manned by one solitary being with a flag and a whistle, At 7.45 the traffic was well and truly backed up in all roads leading onto the roundabout. At 8 am precisely the guy on the zip-up tower, blew his whistle, waved his flag, the police cars made a quick getaway – and then the fun started. I stayed and watched the antics of so many confused motorists for over half an hour, and couldn’t stop laughing.. when I got back to the Office, we were a few drivers adrift and the ‘Guvnor ‘ was getting anxious. – I wonder why.

You can always tell who are non-local drivers. They are sitting there with white knuckles and utterly bemused, whilst the locals zoom onto the roundabout and off again. It is a really successful design, even though Hemel – Apsley – Boxmoor is getting more clogged with traffic.

Thread: Magic roundabout at Hemel Hempstead

Hit this again yesterday during the evening rush hour.

Never mind trying to understand what my path should be from A to B, the majority of the mini roundabouts were blocked by cars trying to exit them.

The car immediately in front of me was inches away from being side-swiped by a white van driver.

The first time I negotiated this, it was dark and raining. Just shut my eyes and accelerated.

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Re: Magic roundabout at Hemel Hempstead

You are correct, the only way to deal with these things is to point the car in the direction you want to go, shut your eyes and floor it!

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