Matt Reed: ‘Diamond’ is Viera’s next driving adventure


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Yep, looks like an “adventure”, alright! What do y’all think? http://www.floridatoday.com/story/opinion/columnists/matt-reed/2015/04/04/matt-reed-diamond-vieras-next-driving-adventure/25271175/

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3 Responses to Matt Reed: ‘Diamond’ is Viera’s next driving adventure

  1. Jamie Cox says:

    I think the diverging diamond is a brilliant new concept in interchange design, with significantly reduced accident potential and improved vehicle throughput. It’s a little weird at first glance, but I’m one of those drivers that likes roundabouts, so take that how you will. I doubt the diverging diamond is much better or worse for walkability than any Interstate interchange. It appears to use somewhat less land area than a cloverleaf, which might be a good thing. The only things I can imagine being remotely walkable about an interstate would be pedestrian-only tunnels or overpasses, or putting the entire roadway underground.

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    • I’m a huge fan of innovation, so I’m open to this concept and others if it brings improved performance. I think pedestrian and bike safety need to be a much higher priority than what we’ve made them up to this point and this intersection should be no exception. Just because it connects to the interstate doesn’t automatically mean it has to be unsafe for bicycling and walking. It should be treated just like any other street or intersection once you accelerate or decelerate on your way on or off the highway. They will need to prioritize car traffic in the way the street will be used of course. Coming off the interstate has to be prioritized so we don’t see dangerous backups onto the highway. The speed of the intersection though at Viera Blvd doesn’t need to be high, we have plenty of space to accelerate and decelerate within the confines of the exit ramps. A positive to the design is that it doesn’t necessitate widening the bridge. I think the engineers can come up with a way to tame the curves and simplify the bike and ped crossings a little bit and still keep it functional for cars too. I’m going to work on some ideas and will share them here.

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  2. The video in the Florida Today article isn’t workng. Here it is from YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYLZo5Ou0o

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