Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/341318
The design will remove the need for left turns across University, onto and off the interstate. In concept, that should reduce traffic delays and crashes. State officials say a diverging diamond will work best at the site because the design can handle more traffic than a standard "clover- leaf" intersection. Even though this type of intersection is new — the first was built in Missouri in 2009 — it has been working, and by the end of 2015, as many as 70 could be in use throughout the country, transportation officials say. Along with Missouri, Kentucky and Utah have diverging diamonds. Still, like other residents of Sarasota and Manatee counties, local mobility advocate Rod Warner, who attended the public work- shop, has questions. Most of the other diverging diamonds built in the United States are in "rural areas with less conflict points" than those at I-75/University Parkway, Warner noted. While FDOT engineers point to the new design as being capable of handling increased traffic flow in the future, Warner wants to see data showing that it can do that while reducing the number of crashes. "What studies have taken place after the fact, showing that the diverg- ing diamond has done what the designers say it will do and what the FDOT is promising it will do?" Warner asked in an interview with the News Leader. He has asked state transportation officials if they considered other options for the inter- state, he added. "The design consultant said they did," Warner told the News Leader. "They The June 26 workshop was the public's first opportunity to look at the Florida Department of Transportation's plan for a $60-million diverging diamond interchange. Photo by Roger Drouin Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2014 Page 33