TEST DRIVE GA’S FIRST DIVERGING DIAMOND
INTERCHANGE
May 19, 2012
Georgia’s first Diverging
Diamond Interchange will open June 4, weather permitting, at I-285 and Ashford
Dunwoody Road and the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts want to be sure
motorists are prepared to drive on the wrong side of the road.
The PCIDs are offering the
public a test drive Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Perimeter
Mall parking lot at the corner of Ashford Dunwoody Road and Perimeter Center
West.
“In a DDI, the flow of
traffic is shifted to the opposite side of the road to reduce points of traffic
conflict,” said PCIDs President and CEO Yvonne Williams. “We have created the
slogan ‘Arrive, Crossover, Drive’ for the movements that will be required to
drive through the interchange. This is a low cost, cutting edge design for
improving traffic flow and safety.”
Golf carts will be used
Saturday on a simulated track to provide a “windshield level” experience of the
new DDI interchange. A current driver’s license is required to participate in
the test drive. “Can You DDI?” tee-shirts will be provided to the first 100
participants and there will be refreshments and music.
The DDI design was originally
used in France and spread to the U.S. in 2009 when the first such interchange
was built in Springfield, Mo. The PCIDs initiated the Dunwoody project when
they hired Moreland Altobelli Associates to find an interim solution for the
busy I-285 and Ashford Dunwoody Interchange – a gateway to Central Perimeter,
Metro Atlanta’s dominant office market and one of the region’s largest
employment centers.
The PCIDs then received
funding from DeKalb County and the State Road and Tollway Authority for
engineering and project design. The Georgia Department of Transportation is
funding the $4.6 million construction cost.
“We’re expecting that under
normal, free-flowing traffic conditions on surrounding highways, the I-285 and
Ashford Dunwoody DDI will reduce traffic delays in evening rush hours up to 20
percent,” Williams said. “There are significant safety improvements also with
DDIs,” Williams noted.
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