An Overly Complex New Highway Interchange Is Coming to a Very Small Northern Michigan Town

They're called diverging diamond interchanges. They will certainly make you do a double-take and not feel fully sure of yourself when you drive through one for the first time. And one is coming to rural northern Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Transportation shared news that a diverting diamond (DDI) is coming to Interstate 75 and M-32 in Gaylord, about 60 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge.

The image above shows an existing DDI that's in place at I-75 and 14 Mile in suburban Detroit.

Diverging Diamonds are the 'in thing' with roadbuilders with the first one being built in the US in 2009 in Missouri. There are now over 100 such interchanges across the country with more planned or under construction.

Engineers praise their safety and efficiency however they are offputting at first encounter by many drivers as they counterintuitively force you to what feels like essentially driving on the wrong side of the road.

It's almost too difficult to explain in words (at least for me) - let's be visual learners to attempt to understand the DDI - this is from the Washington State Department of Transportation.

It may all feel a little too much for tiny Gaylord but certainly MDOT engineers have studied the interchange and found this style to be the best choice.

Take another look through navigating a DDI - this one is close to home. There is a DDI interchange active in West Michigan at I-96 and Cascade in the Grand Rapids area.