How to use the diverging diamond interchange

This video illustrates how to use the new Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at Macleod Trail and 162 Avenue.
After completing an analysis of the traffic flow at the intersection and evaluating several designs, it was determined that the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) was the most appropriate layout for an interchange at that location.
This is the first DDI to be constructed in Canada.
Learn more: www.calgary.ca/...
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[@SlowedByMaple]

Great to see Canada starting to use a Diverging Diamond Interchange.

[@danjustynchiong]

Cities Skyline right here LOL

[@volrosku.6075]

Cities Skylines has literally birthed the next generation of civil engineers and street planners

[@doompuppie]

If you can't figure this out please don't drive

[@bmw320540750]

i thinks this system is efficient, and it's a great step in order to develop transportation sector in Calgary, specially the city is growing very fast, so we need solutions like diverging diamond interchange, many thanks to the City of Calgary for there efforts.

[@chrismurphy4569]

Beautiful interchange, good work by city planners

[@mikej238]

City planners had nothing to do with it. This design has been used in the US for 10 years, Currently 8 of these being built in the US,

[@macordingley30]

I heard 80 already in the US.

[@WeathermanJohnBiggs]

The United States has several of these. I drive through one everyday. It's a breeze.

[@mikej238]

The ones in the states look to be twice as long and are actually flat on the overpass.. This one is crammed in a little space and is on a slope which hinders visibility. I have watched people almost rear end cars in front of them as the intersections are so close together. Also watched two people make a right turn into oncoming traffic. Can't wait till all those lane markings are covered in snow this winter...gonna be mayhem.

[@WeathermanJohnBiggs]

Mike Jones Ours are pretty well marked, but there's always idiots. They are usually designed in such a way that it would be difficult to accidentally go the wrong way.

[@tannerthompson8827]

1:31 thought car was skidding and going to crash

[@alborzka]

Lmfao same, not the best transition idea

[@DosAussieThai]

Hahaha exactly!

[@CharlieND]

Same

[@landongendur]

Saskatchewan just opened the 2nd DDI in Canada today :) I like the design!

[@MsKleinlaut]

Imagine carrying bags of shopping bags and having to walk such a great distance. Wow, real good planning for pedestrians.

[@mikej238]

One good thing about the design is it was easy to navigate during construction traffic has been free flowing on MacLeod for a year. Time will tell how well the east west traffic flows after it's fully opened. I still say pedestrian traffic should have been a separate suspended footbridge on either side. ...would have shortened traffic lights by 20%.

[@PUBHEAD1]

Can't wait till the snow starts to fall...better pack a lunch for the trip

[@wenetresults]

It still doesn't address the issue of the large shopping traffic getting out onto south-bound Macleod Trail south of the Home Depot. Where is the road out of there (not to 22X), but to Macleod Trail south? To ease the traffic flow on the new bridge, there needs to be another way out in case of emergencies and traffic problems.

[@Brylaja]

Roger Morton I noticed that too. Seemed odd that there was no merge

[@Jimtac]

It's so simple and intuitive that it requires a video to explain how it works... I hope you you're not a pedestrian.

[@DeadJuicebox]

It's pretty brain-dead. If staying in the right to go right or staying in the left lane to go left is too complicated, you shouldn't be driving 😂

[@volrosku.6075]

DDI's are good but i prefer rotary type interchanges as other then yielding when entering the rotary there is literally no reason to stop.

[@air.world_emvidgrphy]

I love calgary

[@CreatingtheReaper]

because roads in Calgary need to be even more confusing. good job guys.

[@greego5952]

If you are complaining how confusing it is. The first thing to say is that have you ever driven through one. To me after watching this animation, I can see the great benefits of this and it looks rather simple to be honest. You just follow the lanes...

[@khuongkhuu7559]

5 Miles from City Of Calgary.

[@GeorgeLangley]

Okay, so at 1:19, who has the right of way? (Check out the near-miss there at 0:33!) Am assuming (hoping) that the real intersection has a yield sign for the people coming westbound out of Sundance?

[@Boreasos]

If you can't figure out who has the right of way there, you should not be driving in the first place, but even so there are bound to be proper signage.

[@GeorgeLangley]

Was a comment on the animation, not anyone's driving...

[@paw3398]

NIce Video but why waste so much money when you could simply have built the interchange as a large traffic island with no need for traffic lights at all; increasing traffic flow and safety.

[@mikej238]

lol no not likely

[@gotacallfromvishal]

you don't know calgary very well

[@revimfadli4666]

Don't islands handle congestion worse than these?

[@DavidEasthope]

Yes. Assuming by "island" we're talking about a roundabout, a roundabout gives priority to any traffic in it, and is only perfectly suitable at an intersection of two equally-significant roads. MacLeod Tr. is the priority road in this case, while the cross traffic is not, and so there lies the possibility of MacLeod traffic entering the roundabout having to yield/stop for cross traffic from the shopping centre, when in reality MacLeod proper needs to stay free-flowing without any stops to be effective. Otherwise all it takes is one slow bus coming around the circle to stop three lanes of highway and cause the dreaded "inchworm" wave of traffic back down the highway.

[@Prairielander]

This looks confusing to me. We don't have any of these as of yet in Edmonton. I'm surprised they could not just build a round-about.

[@cinquine1]

Roundabouts are cheaper, and single lane roundabouts are great, but since that road has so many lanes it would have to be two multilane roundabouts, which have all sorts of issues.

[@DEFIANT71DEFIANT]

You build 2 bridges and make it a roundabout like the rest of the world do. Nothing to do with Macleod trail then cause it’s above it. However, I do like the DDI and think it works well. My only criticism is, the shopping area should have more exits to keep traffic lower in one area.

[@mikej238]

After driving over this 20 times I can tell you it's crap. It's too compact, if you watch the video from the one in the US the sight lines are farther and the overpass is actually flat so you can see from one end to the other. Once these lanes are covered in snow it will be absolute mayhem.

[@sasLambo]

The interchange is fine, the video just has too many things going on at the same time making it difficult to see and understand how it works.

[@jaworskij]

I would not want one of these in Winnipeg that's for sure. An accident waiting to happen to cross traffic on a busy hwy. like that.

[@DavidEasthope]

All crossings in a DDI are done with the control of traffic lights. In fact, they're safer than a conventional diamond interchange (the ones where there's a four-way light on either side of the highway) because there are no left turns across traffic; the closest you get is a light-protected straight-away when the traffic swaps sides. Even then, pretty hard to screw up driving in a straight line.

[@Sorinocerul]

what about a multilevel over/under pass?!? not enough engineers to design? can't they avoid traffic lights? what about traffic speed? wasting or saving $$$$?!?

[@ashleywinters7]

At Calgary road construction speeds, that might have taken 10 years to finish. :^)

[@revimfadli4666]

Wouldn't that require much more $$$?

[@cinquine1]

That would be way more expensive, and take up way more space.

[@dean3583]

The voice, the cars, the pedestrian guides, the colour lines running allover the place. Which one represents the instructional voice? Calgary traffic signals are very confusing, there is an international traffic signal system and there is a Calgary system. For traffic safety sake, they don't nned to reinvent the rules of the road. It's proven to be a bad idea, just look at Deerfoot trail, there is an accident everyday.

[@bioglassmusic]

this needs to become GTA mod

[@wenetresults]

Why can't the city use better intersections by not using traffic lights every block, stopping traffic? Old-fashioned 4-leaf clover overpasses, on-ramps, exit merge ramps are still the best keeps traffic moving.

[@Brained05]

Did you watch the video? They said that there was no room for a clover leaf exchange.

[@mikej238]

cloverleaf..like lefties always comparing Alberta to Norway when it comes to finances,Anyone who actually drives knows that cloverleafs are limited in effectiveness

[@cartoons981]

Symbolism at its best. its in shape of HUMAN DNA . era of alteration of human genome begins. signs are everywhere. that's not interchange .

[@playstationfreak2598]

Roger Morton this method has been proved to allow the the largest amount of traffic flow, also with the highest level of safetry

[@zebatov]

They... couldn't have built a large traffic circle instead?

[@jeremygoslin8864]

If the diamond interchange is really very simple, why is there a video to explain it

[@zebatov]

Ridiculous. Traffic circles are much cheaper for the taxpayer and much more efficient. All right turns, no need for lights or any lefts. So sick of the inconsistent exits and intersections in Calgary. Are they drunk when they make these decisions? Do they take helicopters to work and don't have to drive on the shit they create?

[@Brained05]

Traffic circles are only more efficient if drivers are used too them. In places where they are a rarity they can be very dangerous especially in winter when the road markings and even road location can be obscured by snow. They are also more difficult for pedestrians.

[@playstationfreak2598]

zebatov traffic circles are not more inexpensive to create/maintain

[@zebatov]

That would make sense if you weren't comparing traffic circles to the first intersection of its kind in Canada, "Brained". Funny, traffic circles work well in England and I've never heard a single complaint from any of my friends or family that live over there. I think I saw one stop sign while visiting. No tickets for "rolling stops" over there, either. All yields. Any way you cut it, traffic circles are more efficient all ways. Less idling, less waiting/helps keep a steady flow most of the time. And yes, PSFreak, traffic circles are much cheaper to build (more... less-expensive[?] as you put it) than massive overpasses, which require master engineers to build. Have you seen the roads in Calgary? Looks like "Wear a Blindfold Day" is every day when it comes to engineering roads. This was just yet another waste of tax-payers' money.

[@Brained05]

"traffic circles work well in England" Studies have shown that traffic circles are very efficient IF drivers are used to them. In areas where drivers are not used to them their efficiency drops. Also this is an exchange between an expressway and a regional road, which is not a candidate for a traffic circle even England.

[@zebatov]

Nobody's used to this thing at all... Some people actually go out of their way to not use it. So thank you for enforcing my point. Should have been a traffic circle.

[@gotacallfromvishal]

so pedestrians walk twice the distance than if nothing were done but hey at least it's "easier" for cars and looks cool for cars or something. calgary innovation right here.

[@Brained05]

Not sure where you came up with that. pedestrians do cross twice, but both crossings are on a 45 degree angle so very little distance is added to the trip.

[@revimfadli4666]

Twice the distance? How in the word are you going to cross it at half the distance?

[@DCassidy42]

This is diggity diggity dog shit. I fail to see how crossing over the traffic and waiting at two traffic lights increases traffic flow? When faced with rush hour volume it's going to backup onto Shawville, and the section on the bridge top is going to be plugged when large volume is traveling through and the lights change. But then again, it's not like there is any research done on the efficiency and safety of round abouts.

[@mymostpopularvideogotclaimed]

Alt f4

[@rogerc23]

The crazy thing is that this only reduces accidents by 50%. I can't even see how you can get in an accident on this interchange. Don't tell me it's the Chinese again.

[@jaworskij]

Oui, les Chinois.

[@jeremygoslin8864]

Roger C you could easily get in accidents. The best thing that could have been made is a clover overpass, not this honestly speaking

[@mikej238]

It took me 7 minutes to get from Sunvale Drive to Shawville Blvd. middle of the day..5 fucking red traffic lights. The old intersection would have taken half that time..FUCKING BULLSHIT

[@cartoons981]

Symbolism at its best. its in shape of HUMAN DNA . era of alteration of human genome begins. signs are everywhere. that's not interchange

[@rogerc23]

DNA gets altered all the time. You have heard of evolution right. And a lot of what we have always eaten and drank alters DNA as well as a multitude of other experiences. And don't get me started on drugs. So what's your point