A drive around the world's largest roundabout

Among the listings in the Guinness World Records is the Largest Roundabout in the World, and it is located in Malaysia, specifically in the government administrative city of Putrajaya to the south of Kuala Lumpur. Officially known as Persiaran Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, it encircles a hill; the total road length is 3.4 kms and it takes about 3½ minutes to do one circuit.

Putrajaya was developed from the late 1990s and prior to it being turned into a modern city, it was mostly rubber and palm oil estates. There was a network of narrow country roads and the terrain was undulating, with probably the hill that the roundabout circles being one of the highest points.

Putrajaya Roundabout

Because Putrajaya was developed as a greenfield project (a massive one), the planners had freedom to plan the road network with more thought. They did not have to weave around existing structures, though the many large bodies of water (old tin mines) did influence the way the roads were routed.

It was probably decided to retain the hill as a feature or landmark and besides a hotel, there is also a palace for the King to stay when he visits Putrajaya. There is also a park on the hill which offers nice views of the surrounding landscape.

Karamjit Singh in Peugeot 404 in rally in Putrajaya [1984] — Before it became an urban landscape, the Putrajaya area had many estates and was often used for rally events. Karamjit Singh, one of Malaysia’s top rally drivers, began his rallying career in those estates with a Peugeot 404.

There are at least 15 entry and exit points, not surprising considering its size. As can be seen, it is not a circle but traffic flows only in one direction – clockwise – and some entry points are controlled by traffic lights.

While many people in the Klang Valley have probably been on the largest roundabout in the world, we have a taken a video of a drive around it to show what it is like at road level for those who have not or are in another country.

Click here to locate the roundabout on Google Maps.