New and unusual interchange opens in Calgary
Posted Aug 13, 2017 7:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canada’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange opened today in south Calgary, fixing one of the city’s most persistent bottlenecks at Macleod Trail and 162 Ave.
The unusual new design may take some getting used to, according to Mayor Naheed Nenshi, especially because cars will end up driving on the the left side of the road for a short stretch.
“You feel like you’re in England, or Jamaica,” jokes Nenshi.
Sill, he maintained that it’s not nearly as confusing as it may first seem.
“Stop at the red, go on the green, and if you’re able to do that it’s fine,” he says. “As soon as drivers get used to it, I think they’ll find that it’s very smooth and very intuitive.”
Mac Logan, general manager of transportation for the City of Calgary, advises drivers to pay close attention when they first try out the new interchange.
“Please don’t be on your phone, or texting when you’re going through here,” he says.”Pay close attention at the traffic lights.”
Logan says the $78-million project will dramatically reduce delays for the 100,000 vehicles that cross through it every day.
“We think that the delays going east-west across here will be about half of what they would normally be in a standard interchange,” says Logan.
Calgary-Shaw MLA Graham Sucha says the interchange will also add a host of other benefits.
“Safety will improve significantly,” says Sucha. “The time that people in these communities have for their commutes will be reduced significantly, as well, so we’re going to see a huge improvement on quality of life. And ultimately, I think this will impact our first responders in a very positive way, freeing them up from the collisions that would happen in this area and improving response times.”
The city says the interchange will be friendly for both cyclists and pedestrians, and will give neighbouring businesses a boost because it will be easier for divers to enter and exit the interchange.
This new interchange is only the 60th of its kind in North America, and the 90th in the world, according to Logan.
He says the city will absolutely consider re-using the design again for future projects.
