Diverging Diamond in Grand Junction

[roadman65]

I seen from somebody on flickr that the west end of the BL I-70 Grand Junction Loop is now a DDI.  For a town of 60 K I would not think it would be feasible for that type of set up, but obviously not.  I do commend the reuse of the I-70 EB to Denver  overpass sign being still used EB on US 6 at I-70 proper by Colorado as many places will design a new sign when changes in traffic patterns exist. 

[roadfro]

Population has nothing to do with it. It's all about the traffic demands and traffic patterns. DDIs tend to work well with imbalanced flows to/from one side of the interchange, which is entirely possible with a business loop.

[roadman65]

I do not doubt that, but what strikes me is west of Grand Junction there is no large settlements along I-70 and is very rural for several hundred miles.  I would think that there is no demand for any traffic to go west from Grand Junction along I-70.  If it were at the east end of the loop, I could see traffic there being from Grand Junction to Denver you have build up of population between those points.  However, west of there is a lot of rocky land, small towns and sparse population all the way to I-15.

[thenetwork]

It may not be a populous area there, but it is a high truck traffic area -- even more with the addition of 2 new truck stops (Love's and Pilot).   There is a Fed Ex Freight depot just off that exit, and prior to the rebuild, I would see Triple Trailers waiting a long time to make left turns to & from I-70 East and the nearby 22 Road. 

As a resident of that area, does it help the flow of traffic to and from I-70 -- especially for the truckers?  Yes! 

Has it helped the flow of through traffic on US-6/US-50?  Not really.  I have traveled through the DDI via only US-6 several times and I have yet to make it through the DDI without hitting a red light at the crossovers.

I may have mentioned this before, but CDOT has quietly rebuilt many of the I-70 Interchanges between Vail and Grand Junction, including the CO-340/Fruita Exit, over the last 10 years -- most with added roundabouts.  Horizon Drive will soon be changed from a diamond to a "dumbbell"-roundabout interchange within the next couple of years as it is part of the plan to spruce-up the Horizon Drive area, where most of the GJ hotels are located.  They even tinkered with the folded trumpet interchange with BL-70 on the east side of GJ, slightly relocating the WB off-ramp from & the EB on-ramp to I-70. 

I still need to get down there and get some pictures of the new DDI -- it doesn't look fancy, but kudos to CDOT for keeping/relocating most of the overhead BGSs there.  Looks like Green River will remain an official control city for I-70 West for a few more years!  (All the newer BGSs now just list "Utah" as the CC for I-70 West).

[Milepost61]

I do not doubt that, but what strikes me is west of Grand Junction there is no large settlements along I-70 and is very rural for several hundred miles.  I would think that there is no demand for any traffic to go west from Grand Junction along I-70.  If it were at the east end of the loop, I could see traffic there being from Grand Junction to Denver you have build up of population between those points.  However, west of there is a lot of rocky land, small towns and sparse population all the way to I-15.

Actually there's quite a bit of population along I-70 between Grand Junction and the Utah border. Fruita is one of the biggest cities in the western part of the state and has been growing leaps and bounds.

[pctech]

A friend and I went through this area in Sept. CODOT was still working on interchanges  on I-70 in between the Vail area and the start of Glenwood Canyon.
Mainly adding round-abouts as mentioned before.