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.
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.
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.
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).
Quote from: roadman65 on June 13, 2014, 04:15:22 PM
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.
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.