Background: This juggernaut of a junction opened in 1972. It was originally called County Islands Ring Junction, but later was officially named The Magic Roundabout, a reference to a 1960s-era European television show for children.
How It's Unique: England is notorious for littering its streets with roundabouts, but Swindon's Magic Roundabout is one of the most complex rotaries in the world. Five smaller roundabouts direct traffic clockwise while cars travel counterclockwise around the inner circle. "We don't recommend a design like this at all," Mahmassani says. "It's very, very confusing and dangerous, but there are people in England who like to design these things." Ray Harper, one of the engineers behind the concept, told the BBC that in its first years the design allowed for 1100 more cars to pass through per hour.
Excerpt from http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/architecture/4338387
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