New Diverging Diamond Interchange at 8 Mile, Telegraph Nearly Completed by MDOT

FOX 2 – A major construction project that has clogged traffic in the Eight Mile and Telegraph area for months is now almost complete.

Northbound on Telegraph near the Eight Mile Viaduct on Monday afternoon, drivers will encounter a diverging diamond interchange.

Drivers will cross in the opposite direction of traffic from where you were traveling – and it just opened there on Monday. It’s all part of a $54 million project to renovate Telegraph, including bridges, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

This may sound strange, but MDOT says: just follow the rules. You will be safe.

“It’s not about (crossing) oncoming traffic. We stop oncoming traffic. You follow the road markings and the signs,” said Bill Erben, construction engineer of MDOT. “You make a chicane, a racing term (for a series of sharp turns in opposite directions used to slow vehicles and increase safety) under the bridge. It’s a Jackie Stewart racing term – or you go to left then right.”

MDOT already has these DDIs on Big Beaver, I-75 and 14 Mile and 12 Mile to I-75 and there have been no problems.

But there are also social networks.

FOX 2: “Here’s someone writing, ‘It’s like they’re trying to kill us. I could imagine that better.’ What is your reaction? »

“Well, no one at MDOT is trying to kill anyone,” Erben said. “We’re trying to keep people from getting killed. Again, follow the markings on the roadway, stop at the traffic lights and follow the signs. This will be a safe interchange.”