Diverging Diamond Interchange - History

History

Prior to 2009 the only known diverging diamond interchanges were located in France in the communities of Versailles, Le Perreux-sur-Marne, and Seclin (see External Links, below). (The ramps of the first two listed have been reconfigured to accommodate ramps of other interchanges, as seen in views on the Google Earth and Google Maps websites, but they continue to function as diverging diamond interchanges.) The interchange configuration was introduced to America in a paper submitted to the 2nd Urban Street Symposium held in Anaheim, California in 2003 by Gilbert Chlewicki, a civil engineer from Baltimore, Maryland. In 2009 an interchange of this type was constructed in Springfield, Missouri with additional interchanges constructed in North America in subsequent years(see below).

The interchange in Seclin (at 50°32′41″N 3°3′21″E / 50.54472°N 3.05583°E / 50.54472; 3.05583) between the A1 and Route d'Avelin appears to have been made somewhat more specialized than in the diagram at right: eastbound traffic on Route d'Avelin intending to enter the A1 northbound must keep left and cross the northernmost bridge before turning left to proceed north onto A1; eastbound traffic continuing east on Route d'Avelin must select a single center lane, merge with A1 traffic that is exiting to proceed east, and cross a center bridge. All westbound traffic that is continuing west or turning south onto A1 uses the southernmost bridge.

Additional research was conducted by a partnership of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center and a private consultant, and the results were published by Ohio Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The Federal Highway Administration has released a publication titled "Alternative Intersections/Interchanges: Informational Report (AIIR)" with a dedicated chapter to this design.