If it makes the grade, Georgia’s first diverging diamond interchange could usher in a new era of similar quick fixes to metro Atlanta’s traffic woes.
Officials were generally pleased Monday with the new traffic pattern’s performance on its first test, although traffic was lighter than normal.
But some of the drivers who traveled through the $5.5 million redesign, which was meant to give motorists easier access to I-285 from Ashford Dunwoody Road, weren’t easy graders. They complained that the new design, which directs drivers to the left as they cross the bridge over the Perimeter before returning them to the right when they get to the other side, created some confusion and added to their morning commute times. At least one thought it was “the worst ever.”
State and local officials have high hopes for the project it took three years to complete in the heart of Atlanta’s busiest office center. Its cost and time were only a fraction of what a new interchange would take -- a project estimated at $170 million that could not begin for at least 20 years -- Georgia Department of Transportation officials say.
Cheaper and faster solutions fit nicely into the state's transportation playbook. Diamond interchanges are already slated for two sites in Gwinnett County and more could come.
"If this one proves as successful as we believe it can be, I think you will see more of them," DOT spokesman David Spear said.
In Gwinnett, redesign work is expected to begin this year along I-85 at Jimmy Carter Boulevard and at Pleasant Hill Road. Each is estimated to cost $4 million to $4.5 million.
If the Jimmy Carter overpass were to be rebuilt, it would cost $79.9 million and could not be completed for at least 20 years, said Chuck Warbington, executive director of the Gwinnett Village CID.
"Basically, we're buying ourselves 10 to 15 years [with the redesign]," he said.
Police and DOT officials said traffic at the Ashford Dunwoody interchange didn't match the 55,000 vehicles that normally pass through it daily. But officials were heartened that most drivers glided through the twists and turns with nary a honk. Backups during Monday evening's rush hour were slight compared with the 30-minute waits some commuters regularly face, and Dunwoody police said there were no major incidents or accidents at the interchange Monday.
But not everybody found the diamond appealing.
Some westbound drivers exiting I-285 reported having trouble crossing traffic to the left-turn lanes at Hammond Drive. Others said the new design lengthened their commutes.
Mark Rackin said work on the project added 10 minutes to his commute by eliminating the dedicated right-turn lane onto Lake Hearn Drive where he works. Monday's opening, he said, cost him another 10 minutes.
"When I heard all the hoopla Sunday afternoon, I knew what was coming and dreaded today's drive," he said. "I was right; it was the worst ever."
Some avoided the area until after the morning rush.
Ishmael Indris, a Dunwoody limousine driver, bided his time sipping coffee at a nearby convenience store.
"Oh yeah, I'm waiting," Indris said. "I think in the future things will be better."
Those same sentiments were echoed by Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis.
"It's just unusual enough that it's going to take people a couple of times to get it down," he said, "but they'll figure out which lane they need to be in to get to where they need to be."
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