Duluth Diverging Diamond Interchange Expected to Open Monday, June 10

It won’t be long before the Diverging Diamond Interchange on the bridge at Interstate 85 and Pleasant Hill Road in unincorporated Duluth opens.

Before that happens the Gwinnett Department of Transportation will close the bridge for the weekend starting at 9 p.m. Friday, June 7, weather and conditions permitting. The bridge is expected to reopen to traffic with the DDI configuration at 5 a.m. Monday, June 10.

The DDI project involves shifting traffic to the opposite side of the bridge to make left turns onto the interstate easier and improve the flow of traffic across the bridge.

The project is expected to be mostly complete in September. Landscaping is scheduled to begin in the fall.

The bridge at I-85 and Pleasant Hill Road will be closed to all through-traffic during that weekend, according to a news release issued by Gwinnett County. Construction will not impact right turn access to or from I-85.

Drivers and pedestrians should take a suggested detour route of Pleasant Hill Road to Satellite Boulevard to Steve Reynolds Boulevard to Shackleford Road to Pleasant Hill Road and the reverse. A map of the detour route accompanies this article.

Pedestrians are advised to continue to use the detour route for at least one month following the DDI opening while pedestrian walkways are being constructed.

“We ask that drivers in this area be especially cautious and alert during construction," said Gwinnett County Transportation Department Director Kim Conroy in the news release. "We understand this is an inconvenience, so Gwinnett DOT staff will closely monitor traffic flow and signals during the crossover weekend to help keep traffic moving.”

After the DDI transition, construction will continue on the center median and pedestrian facilities, while work crews finalize traffic signals, interchange lighting and pavement markings.

“The Gwinnett Place business community is thrilled about this investment in our area," said Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (CID) Executive Director Joe Allen. “The end result of closing the Pleasant Hill Road bridge for a weekend will be improved mobility in this area.”

Gwinnett County government is working with the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District on the DDI project to relieve traffic congestion on bridge.

Funding for DDI construction is primarily being provided by the 2009 SPLOST program and the Gwinnett Place CID.

For information on how to drive the diamond including a video rendering of the finished project, visit www.gwinnettDDI.com.  

When completed, the bridge at Pleasant Hill Road and I-85 will be Gwinnett County’s first DDI and the second in Georgia.

A third DDI is currently under construction on the bridge at I-85 and Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross. It is anticipated to be completed by mid to late 2014.

The first DDI in Georgia opened in Sandy Springs at I-285 and Ashford-Dunwoody Road in June 2012.