That was fast: Diamond roundabout removed – instant chaos ensues

Just when Sydney motorists thought the saga of the “diamond roundabout” was finally in the rearview mirror, it made a spectacular comeback – not in physical form, but as the ghost of traffic confusion past.

On Monday, a collision between a car and a truck was reported at the site of the now-former diamond-shaped roundabout on Fifteenth Avenue in Austral. You might remember it: the avant-garde traffic solution that resembled a normal roundabout's edgy cousin who took a geometry class and got carried away.

The roundabout – which became a viral sensation for all the wrong reasons – was removed over the weekend after baffled drivers decided the best way to use it was to ignore it entirely and plough straight through, as captured in glorious dashcam footage. One highlight included a large truck behaving like Pac-Man, charging directly over the diamond while a fleet of SUVs followed in hot pursuit.

The artistic experiment in traffic flow was met with widespread ridicule, even prompting one local councillor to label it “embarrassing” – a term rarely used lightly in Australian politics unless someone’s been caught on a jet ski during a flood.

Council took the criticism on board, rolled out the high-vis and painted over the offending geometry. The plan? Replace it with a traditional, good old-fashioned circular roundabout. But as with all good plans, there was a slight hiccup: Monday came, no roundabout existed (of any shape), and – surprise! – an accident occurred.

“People over the weekend were still driving like the roundabout was still there, it’s confused people and it’s a bloody mess,” one local woman told Yahoo News, managing to sum up both the situation and modern life in a single sentence.

Another resident chimed in with, “It was bound to happen”, and a third suggested those responsible should take accountability – though it’s unclear whether they meant the traffic planners, or perhaps Pythagoras.

Local MP Nathan Hagarty also got involved, arriving on-site with the weary air of a man who has seen one too many traffic experiments go horribly wrong. “Cars are still stopping, they’re not sure what to do,” he explained helpfully in a social media video, as if narrating a wildlife documentary about confused suburban sedans.

But Hagarty wasn’t finished. “I think some serious questions need to be asked to Liverpool Council and the contractors… how much money has been wasted?” he said, echoing the sentiment of anyone who’s ever watched a government try to install anything more complicated than a speed bump.

Liverpool City Council, for their part, confirmed the roundabout is officially gone. “There is no roundabout, it’s gone,” a spokesperson clarified, as if the public might believe it had simply rotated out of view.

To sum up: there was a roundabout, but it was a diamond, which confused everyone. Then there was no roundabout, which confused everyone even more. At this point, locals are simply asking for a flat bit of road with some arrows and maybe a friendly traffic warden holding a sign that says “Please try your best”.

No one was injured in the Monday crash – except, perhaps, the last shreds of dignity clinging to local traffic planning.

Images: Today show / Facebook