ANKENY, Iowa — An Ankeny intersection that opened six months ago is still causing confusion among drivers. The Iowa Department of Transportation is renewing a social media effort to clear things up.
Navigating through the Diverging Diamond Interchange off I-35 and 1st Street in Ankeny can feel counter-intuitive. The design puts drivers on the left side of the road, in order to limit conflict points when getting on and off the interstate.
However, Benjamin Hucker, with the Iowa DOT, said that’s not what’s throwing people off. It’s that after taking the exit, after stopping at a red light, you can make a legal right or left turn on red.
“You can turn in either direction after stopping, just like you could make a right on red [in typical intersections], or you could make a left on red from a one-way to a one-way,” said Hucker. “It’s designed to be as intuitive as possible for drivers to be able to navigate."
But drivers won’t move on red, even if the traffic is clear. It’s slowing down the commute home for Ankeny residents and causing frustration.
"Once you check both directions and make sure it’s clear, you are free to proceed on if traffic is clear. So we would encourage drivers who feel comfortable if you want to do that, to do so," Hucker said.
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On April 29, the Iowa DOT posted an infographic to Facebook in an attempt to clear things up. The post generated more than 200 comments, with many voicing their frustration about how drivers aren’t navigating it properly.
In one comment, a woman joked that her son wanted to stand outside the intersection and hold up a sign telling people to turn on red. Which brings up a decent question: Why not put up a sign?
"One reason we haven’t added signs just yet is there is already a lot of other road signs here at the interchange," Hucker explained. "At the DOT, we do try to be conscious of how many signs and markings we do put out there. We want them to be clear and noticeable to folks but we realize that too many signs become clutter, and it just kind of blends in, and nobody sees them."
Hucker said getting the message out through social media or media reports is also more cost-effective than putting up a sign.
"We’re not completely against [signs], but we would like to try this option first. Because it is a little bit more economical to do it this way, and again, it reduces the sign clutter," Hucker said. "If it becomes an issue we will put up those signs but we just wanted to do it a little more informally because you don’t see signs like this on one way to a one-way downtown Des Moines."
Hucker said there have been eight crashes on or near the 1st Street ramps since October 2020. However, those crashes were mostly weather-related— none were a direct result of wrong-way driving or confused drivers.
"It’s just that minor annoyance if you’re sitting there, hoping maybe that they will turn so maybe you can go, but in reality, well it does help things move a little bit more efficiently, it’s not a humongous timesaver or difference," Hucker said.
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