The debate about what the worst roundabout in Elgin is certainly got P&J readers talking – and now the results of our poll are in.
We selected what we thought were the five most notorious junctions in the town for motorists to choose from.
Below are the results of the vote we ran with readers to find out which to circle at the top of our list.
However, honourable mentions were also put forward by social media users about ones they also thought didn’t deserve to be missed out.
So, here they are, in reverse order.
5. Laichmoray confusion
Let’s start out with the one our readers disliked the least from the nominations we put out.
The Laichmoray roundabout at the junction between Maisondieu Road and Moss Street received just 5% of the votes.
We thought it deserved to be named one of Elgin’s worst roundabouts due to it being a regular bottleneck during weekday afternoons.
However, Elgin motorists have obviously disagreed and think there are far worse candidates.
4. Edgar Road congestion
We described the Edgar Road roundabout at the junction with Linkwood Road as the yin to the Laichmoray’s yang.
When one of them is snarled up with traffic, you can almost guarantee the other one is contributing to it in some way.
However, both occupy the bottom two places in our five-way tussle to find Elgin’s worst roundabout.
Edgar Road received just 13.6% of the votes in our poll with the biggest complaint being the plants in the middle of the junction obscuring visibility.
Do you agree with the results? Let us know in the comments section below.
3. Squeezing in at Dr Gray’s
With those two out of the way, the top three spaces in our poll are all occupied by roundabouts on the A96.
The first one we come to is the roundabout at Dr Grays, which received 23.5% of the votes.
We thought the difficulty in joining the A96 from South Street and Pluscarden Road made this a worthy contender.
Wendy Middleton agreed on social media, posting: “Lorries and cars don’t stop to give way.”
2. Constant changes at KFC
We’re down to the top two now, and the runner-up in our list of the worst roundabouts is the KFC roundabout as you approach Elgin from the east.
Perhaps it would have been spared a mention a year ago, but the repeated changing of the layout of the junction has infuriated drivers in recent months.
With 24.7% of the votes in our poll, drivers certainly agreed that it needs improved yet again.
Sara Parsons posted on social media: “KFC one for sure. Folk still use the wrong lanes.”
1. Changing lanes at Tesco
So, we’ve reached the point where we give a roundabout the dubious honour of being named the worst in Elgin.
In the end, we had an undisputed winner with the Tesco roundabout claiming 33.3% of the 81 total votes in our poll.
We nominated it due to it being a busy junction between a big supermarket and the A96, coupled with confusion over what lane to be in at times.
It was also the roundabout social media users had the most to say about.
Jaye Thomson posted: “Twice at the Tesco roundabout I have had near misses. Cars coming from Inverness sitting in left-hand lane but going towards Halfords. No indicators on either car.”
Graham Cormie wrote: “Tesco one is a nightmare. Sat nav puts you in the wrong lane and they are forced to switch lanes very late.”
Which Elgin roundabouts did we miss?
Perhaps more than the roundabouts themselves, the biggest complaint Elgin motorists had was the lack of indicators used by drivers.
Many on social media believed safety could be improved if the signals were used more consistently by all.
We named just five roundabouts in our poll, but there have been other honourable mentions for others to join the list.
Luke Bufton posted: “Halfords, as no one seems to use the filter lane, but when you do they think you are trying to get ahead of them.”
Lesley Morrison wrote: “Road markings on A96 by Queen Street. Cars indicate left whilst travelling from Aberdeen direction.
“Then they don’t turn left into Queen Street but come charging across and down Greyfriars Street. Often disabled folk crossing or kids for nearby school.”
Kenneth James posted: “Where’s the mini one at Reiket Lane? The one where people don’t stop and come at you at about 40mph.”
Margaret Currie added: “Pansport. You’ve to watch as some use the right-hand lane to go straight across.”
Read more about Elgin roads
- Revealed: The Elgin car park where you’re most likely to get a fine
- The ONLY two pavements you can legally park on in Elgin
- The Elgin A96 roundabout that has had 3 different layouts in less than a year: Have your say on which was best
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