The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) recently won an America’s Transportation Award in the operations excellence category at the 2018 Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) Conference.
The award was presented for the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) project. The operations excellence category honors projects that use existing transportation to advance transportation systems management and operations efforts, address maintenance, improve reliability, or reduce congestion.
“This well-deserved recognition represents the innovative work DelDOT is doing that benefits motorists and our communities,” Cathy Rossi, vice president of public and government affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic, said. “DelDOT clearly continues to earn a reputation for effective problem solving and forward-thinking well beyond the borders of our state.”
The $9.3 million DDI, on State Route 72, reduces driver delays with the use of two-phase traffic signals that stay green longer and also allows for high volume left turns. Travel times were reduced by three to seven minutes.
The project also reduced the number of conflict points for drivers and created a shared-use path for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The project broke ground in April 2016 and was completed in January 2017.
The DDI was a more cost-effective alternative to implementing a loop ramp for northbound vehicles.