Local engineering firm Stantec has received a national award from the American Council of Engineers (ACEC) for its design of the reconfigured Harrodsburg Road (US 68) interchange at New Circle Road (KY4) in Lexington. The design solution, known as a Double Crossover Diamond (DCD), was the first in the state and only the sixth in the nation when it opened to traffic in August 2011. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has credited it with improving safety, saving costs, and easing congestion at the highly travelled interchange.
The annual ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards, announced on April 23, 2013 in Washington, DC, are known as the “academy awards of engineering.” Earlier this year, the interchange design received the top award for engineering excellence – the Grand Conceptor Award - form the ACEC Kentucky chapter in late 2012.
The design solution, developed by a team of Stantec transportation engineers in Lexington, addressed issues at one of the state’s most congested and crash plagued interchanges. In addition to adding new lanes, the DCD approach eliminated left turns across traffic with an “at grade” configuration that saved the KYTC from the multi-million costs of constructing new interchange overpasses.
This is the third recognition for the interchange design. In addition to the Kentucky award, it was selected as one of top ten transportation solutions across the country in America’s Transportation Awards sponsored by the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO), AAA, and the US Chamber of Commerce.