The plan for Atlanta’s newest diverging diamond interchange at I-285 and Camp Creek Road. Source: Georgia DOTThe latest diverging diamond interchange for Atlanta is designed to improve one of the city’s most congested areas.
The diverging diamond interchange, or DDI, will be built at the intersection of Interstate 285 and Camp Creek Parkway (SR 6). The project is estimated to cost $12.3 million and be completed in late 2019, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
A groundbreaking for the project was held August 23 with GDOT and Aerotropolis Atlanta, a business group that seeks economic development around the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
DDIs, one of a few new alternative interchange designs being implemented in the U.S., are designed to improve safety and traffic flow at busy interstate interchanges. They eliminate left turns that have to clear opposing traffic, a design that is useful in high-traffic areas. The design is also seen as a lower cost alternative.
Georgia opened its first DDI in January 2017 at the intersection of I-95 and SR 21 at Exit 109.
For the Camp Creek project, the overpass bridge will be raised to meet vertical clearance requirements and widened from four to six lanes, with three eastbound and three westbound lanes. The lanes will also be wider at 13 feet, up from the current 9 to 12 feet, GDOT says.
The project also includes a walkway in the center of the bridge separated by an 11-foot-tall barrier. New lighting and landscaping will be added.
GDOT says the Camp Creek Parkway interchange, where a nearby popular shopping center is located, has seen an increasing number of crashes and congestion, and the DDI will reduce points of traffic conflict.
