Diverging Diamond Interchange

Kudos to MODOT for such a simple and elegant solution!

Extensively traveling the USA with a 26,000 pound vehicle, I have always noted the presence or even more so, the lack of, well engineered signage. To have a preview of the coming interchange and the proper lane to be positioned in, is a primary key to reducing last minute lane changes. The increased risk of accidents due to lack of critical information signs, is a fact of life (or death) on the nations highways. A somewhat universal method of education for the U.S. Civil Engineers, would be appropriate. The GPS is an aid, not the final answer, especially in 'The Weave' design.

I like the design but the people coming off the highway are forced to either turn left or right. They have no option to continue going straight.

There is also currently a Diverging Diamond interchange under construction over I-15 in American Fork Utah, which will be finished in 2010. One cool thing about that job site is that they build the bridge segments nearby and then roll the entire assembled bridge into place, speeding construction and only requiring one night of road closures to put the whole span in place.

www.udot.utah.gov/pioneer/

What is really important about this particular intersection in Springfield, Mo. is that on I-44 St. Louis, Mo. is to the east and Tulsa, Ok. is to the west. The Kansas Expressway crossing over I-44 is actually HWY 13 and is the divided highway to get to Kansas City, Mo. Before this solution, I have seen traffic backed up on I-44 onto the shoulders before the exit ramps from both directions headed for KC. And, many, many times backed up 3 to 5 miles, on southbound Hwy 13 coming into the intersection. This is a major trucking intersection coming into, out of, and through Springfield. The NEW Diverging Diamond Interchange is really weird to go through the first couple of times, but the signage is very good and smooth traffic flow is fantastic with NO traffic backups. Doing it this way saved a LOT of money too. There really isn't enough space to build 2 new bridges with additional lanes because of the number and size of businesses surrounding it. The way MoDot updated one side of the current bridge and then the other made it no more of a hassle than the usual road construction areas, keeping this intersection intact and usable during the renovation. Whoever came up with this design is a genius. It's very simple, very effective, and easy to use. It looks no different to I-44 through traffic, but for the Kansas Expressway/Hwy 13 traffic, as soon as they quit scratching their heads after going through it the first time, exclaim "Wow."

Geometry RULZ!

Just sayin - You would want to go straight and get back on the highway because 1)You chose wrong exit or 2)Decided you had another gallon left in the tank?

I think this design throttles through traffic at the expense of those turning left. Now there is stop light for all which would only be for left hand cars with traditional design.

Good signage and appropriate time of day sequencing is the solution imho.

I understand the concern about deciding you might want to go straight through, after accidentally exiting off I44, but turning left or right would be no problem and has ample opportunities to do a little turn around and head in the direction you decide you want to go, not far out of the way at all. As far as wanting to stop for gas, this IS the exit to take as gas prices are notoriously lower at this intersection than any other in the city of Spfld. because of the continual price wars going on among the stations both south and north of this intersection on Kansas Expressway/Hwy 13. Please come to Springfield and see for yourself. I think you would be impressed. Besides, Branson, Missouri is only 30 miles away, south of Springfield, and currently has Ozark Mountain Christmas celebration going on with wonderful light displays, Christmas Shows, Events, Silver Dollar City Christmas Celebration and lights, Celebration City Christmas activities/light show and outlet mall shopping. It's quite the family place. Something interesting to do for every age. Black Friday at the outlet malls is a hoot. Great bargains to be had but talk about traffic. Let's say a lot of people are there to take advantage of the bargains. Anyway, can't say enough good stuff about the new Springfield Kansas Expressway/I44 interchange. It's too COOL.

The diverging diamond is very easy to drive. Here are some better, more helpful links to see what it looks like. Go to the Missouri DOT link below to view a cool computer animation of the interchange. Springfield has another diverging diamond under construction at National Ave. and US 60 (aka James River Freeway). This one will be complete next summer.

www.flickr.com/photos/modot/sets/72157621103069705

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5JtZMPTNAY

www.modot.mo.gov/springfield/major_projects/Greene/I-44andRoute13.html

www.modot.mo.gov/springfield/major_projects/Stone/NationalJRFDDI.html

There are also several diverging diamonds planned around the country which are listed on Wikipedia.com under “diverging diamond.”

To Blogengeezer: I don't know what your message is trying to say but the diverging diamond interchange has plenty of overhead signs.

To Rockin Scotty's comment of “I think this design throttles through traffic at the expense of those turning left. Now there is stop light for all which would only be for left hand cars with traditional design.”

What exactly do you think happened at the signal lights before this was converted to a diverging diamond interchange? This was a standard signalized diamond interchange with signals at both ends of the bridge. Through traffic had to stop while protected left-turns entered onto IS 44 and through traffic had to stop and wait for left-turning traffic that came off IS 44 and entered onto MO 13. Now through traffic is either going north or south (2 phase signal). There are NO interruptions while waiting for left-turning vehicles. Wow, left turn vehicles move at the same time as the through moving vehicles.

OK, It may have problems but I am sure that given enough money it could be resolved. Know, lets eliminate all these gas wasting irritating lighted intersections and put in roundabouts, they can be as big or as little as you want at an intersection. and can encompass any configuration, once people are educated to there usage traffic will move along smoothly.

This concept is not new. The continuous flow intersection was patented by Belisario Hernandez Romo on September 17, 1991, US Patent 5,049,000. [Filed December 23, 1987] Several intersections using this concept have been built and are in operation in Monterrey and Guadalajara, México. The concept has also been approved by the California Department of Transportation [CalTrans] for construction in the La Mesa area of San Diego, California.
Contact Belisario H. Romo, PhD. P.T.O.E., MetraCorp

This is NOT a continuous flow intersection (CFI). This is a diverging diamond interchange design and it is different from a CFI. A CFI is done at one signalized intersection. This operates with two signal locations; one at each end of the interchange.

Good luck with trying to patent a road design. So how many royalties is Belisario getting? The big ZERO. The CFI design has been constructed in many areas. I believe the first was done it Louisianna. There is only one DDI currently constructed in the US and several more will be completed in 2010.

The Two Phase At-Grade Enhanced INTERSECTION

My name is Benumea Maples Otter P.E., P.T.O.E. I worked for Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo since 1980 till 2003, I was there.

To begin with, there is not such a thing as Continuous Flow "Intersection" or (CFI). The proper name of the US patent is # 5,049,000. [Filed December 23, 1987] is Continuous Flow “INTERCHANGE.” (grade separated) Many traffic engineers and obviously the patent reviewer, are ignorant that a traffic light intersection can NOT be described as ” continuous” the patent applied without the consent and knowledge of Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo was fraudulently applied by an ex employee of the company Continuous Traffic Corporation aka/ COTRACORP Fransico Mier Bejarano in 1989……a sociopath conman. Mr Mier deceitfully subtracted the designs and has been defrauding authorities and municipalities selling them the CFI (interchange) but delivering a bad counterfeit of the 2pi© and the 2pi Hybrid©

Now, the Two Phase At-Grade Enhanced INTERSECTION is a signalized intersection operating in TWO phases of traffic control per cycle. This Two Phase At-Grade Enhanced INTERSECTION concept is not patented it was copyrighted in September 1987 and the creator was Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo based in the previous patented designs of his father Mr. Arturo Olivero Cedeno, some 30 plus years earlier.

What you are looking at re-named as “diverging diamond interchange” is a hybrid of the Two Phase At-Grade Enhanced INTERSECTION when one of the roads is a high volume continuous free flow street, road or highway. And it is call “2pi Hybrid INTERCHANGE” so the word “diverging “ is more a quality or a characteristic of the design rather than its name, since the principle is to eliminate the left turns demand for 2 phases of the cycle. To this end the only way to achieve this premise is to relocate or divert the left turn lanes to the left of the opposite trough oncoming traffic. This is the copyrighted design and the premise of the patent (interchange-not an intersection.)

The question on how this design got to be implemented in many parts of the world is irrelevant; the honor, the prestige, the satisfaction belongs to Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo a superb traffic designer and geometrician the solution to this and a lot more complicated and complex traffic hurdles belong to him.
Is easy just visit the official USA copyright and the patent pages and make a query, the latest copyrights I saw were from 2002.

The first publication of his concepts appear on the LA TIMES Orange County Edition on December 4-1989 after designing complex intersections in New York City – Brooklyn (Hilary Street Corridor) in Phoenix (Camelback Road) in Orange County (El Toro Road @ Jamboree) paper on his designs appear on the western-ITE in 1992 “Review Of the Enhanced At-Grade Intersection” By Mr. Herman Kimmel published in January – February of 1991.

All copies of this method (trough traffic left turns diverting) have been build AFTER 1987. There are some people that in order to diminish the significant achievement of Mr. Romo dare to say that his concepts were all ready established and in operation in Europe and in the USA since 1904 or 1917.

This is obviously a lie, because in order for the 2pi system to work, detection, coordination, actuation and finally responsive or adaptive algorithms are required. They were applied to traffic controllers until the end of the 1980’s. Hence the evolution of the Continuous Flow INTERCHANGE into The Two Phase At-Grade Enhanced INTERSECTION and the “2pi Hybrid INTERCHANGE” until 1987.

All three of them are EXACTLY the same geometry the same principle only flattened in the case of the at-grade solution.

“Transportation in the New Millennium 2
For nearly 50 years, from the 1920s until the 1970s, the electromechanical controller
dominated the traffic signal systems market. Cycle lengths were programmed by installing
appropriate gears and the cycle was split into various intervals by inserting pins on a
timing dial. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the NEMA TS1 specification was updated (NEMA TS2) to provide coordinated-actuated operation, preemption, and an optional serial bus that would simplify cabinet wiring.”

In any case the first “diverging diamond interchange” was designed by Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo in Maracaibo, Venezuela (Las Delicias Interchange) designed in 1982 and build in 1984.

After reviewing the counterfeit design build at I-44/Kansas Expressway interchange I can easily prove to those who want to know, that the original designs for this type of interchange are far superior when designed by Mr. Belisario Hernandez Romo.

If as reported, modot.mo.gov plans to implement similar designs around Kansas City and St. Louis I strongly recommend getting in touch with Mr. Romo and get the original designs, is better for the motorist, the city and the MoDOT they all deserve better.

His company: Metropolitan Traffic Corporation aka / MetTraCorp in San Diego California
His personal e-mail: bhromo@gmail.com

Benumea Maples Otter P.E., Ph.D., P.T.O.E.
benumeam@hotmail.com

In regard to the “2pi Hybrid INTERCHANGE” created by: Mr. Belisario Hernández Romo in 1987 and to probe my statements above here is the first “Diverging Diamond interchange.” (Wrong name)

You can log in to Google maps copy and paste the following address and look for this interchange build in 1999 (11 years ago):

Gral. Pablo González Garza, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

To the north of this “2pi Hybrid INTERCHANGE” you’ll find a “T” version of the “2pi Hybrid INTERCHANGE” Mr. Romo has built at least 50 of these designs based on his system. Traffic Engineers in the USA are copying the creation of Mr. Belisario Hernández Romo only difference the name: Diverging Diamond interchange.

Just to clarify I want you to know who created the design. There have been a number of copycat designs around the world all after 1987.

His company: Metropolitan Traffic Corporation aka / MetTraCorp in San Diego California
His personal e-mail: bhromo@gmail.com
Benumea Maples Otter P.E., Ph.D., P.T.O.E.
benumeam@hotmail.com

Traffic engineers in the USA copied the design from France. If the interchange in Mexico was built in 1999, then Mr. Belisario Hernández Romo copied the French. They had this type of design in the early 1970's well before Mr. Belisario Hernández Romo supposedly came up with the 2pi hybrid.

You can log in to Google maps copy and paste the following coordinates and look for the interchange build in Versailles, France that was completed in the 1970's, long before 1999. Now who is the counterfeit? France also has other locations of these interchanges that were built much later (late 1990's or early 2000's??) and you can copy those into Google, too.

48.832115,2.152859 (Versailles, France)

48.830306,2.493139 (Le Perreux-sur-Marne, France)

50.544778,3.055806 (Seclin, France)

No one in this article from the USA claimed to have been the creator of the diverging diamond interchange. It was only mentioned that this is the first time it has been constructed in the USA. Someone from the USA just gave it a name but did not invent it.

OK, I'm glad y'all are so interested in the science behind traffic and figuring out the easiest, safest path of travel. I personally don't think this qualifies as one of the 'Best of 2009' at least not compared to Terry Kenney at AEST and his innovative hydraulic road bed generation technology. I think PopSci should support more breakthrough technologies like Mr. Kenney has invented. Any group of high school kids can figure out how to efficiently route cars but nobody has done what Mr. Kenney has. Just calling it like I see it imho.