The Ashford Dunwoody Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI), first of its kind in Georgia, has received three awards from state transportation organizations for the innovative project to improve traffic congestion at the I-285 and Ashford Dunwoody Road Interchange.

The Georgia Partnership for Transportation Quality has awarded the Best Innovative Solution Award and the Grand Design Award to the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs), which initiated the project; Moreland Altobelli Associates, Inc., which handled the engineering and design and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Office of Innovative Program Delivery, which funded and oversaw construction.

The innovative solution award recognizes innovation and new design solutions to engineering problems with broad prospects for future application.  The grand award is made for one project that is judged especially worthy.  The awards were presented at the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia recent annual Georgia Transportation Summit.

The Ashford Dunwoody DDI also has received the 2012 Innovation in Transportation Award from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Georgia Section.  The ITE Award was presented to both the PCIDs and GDOT at ITE's recent annual meeting and awards ceremony.

"We are proud now to be able to refer to the Ashford Dunwoody DDI as an award-winning project," said PCIDs President and CEO Yvonne Williams.

The DDI is an innovative design that shifts the flow of traffic to the opposite side of the road to reduce points of traffic conflict and improve traffic flow and safety.

Williams said police reports and commuter feedback indicate that congestion and accidents have significantly improved at this major gateway to the Perimeter Market.  "We'll have the hard data after traffic studies are completed in the spring," she said.