Diverging Diamond: New traffic pattern opens at SR-56 and I-75

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. - A new traffic pattern opened Monday at one of the busiest intersections in Pasco County, aimed at alleviating congestion that has worsened with an explosion of development.

Drivers traveling through the State Road 56 and Interstate 75 interchange between Wesley Chapel and Lutz will now pass through, what's known as, a diverging diamond interchange.

Cars will be forced to "diverge," meaning the lanes will cross to the left side of the road through the interchange and then cross back over to the right side of the road. The Florida Department of Transportation is warning that it will feel to drivers like they’re briefly on the wrong side of the road.

FDOT says traffic reduction is one benefit, but not the only one.

"By shifting the traffic over to the left we're able to give motorists a free flow onto the interstate without having to wait at a left turn signal. That's really huge. That area is very congested, a lot of left-turners in that area, a lot of traffic in that area. So the whole goal is to increase the capacity, increase the flow of traffic in the area and hopefully reduce the crashes as well," Kris Carson, an FDOT spokesperson, said in March, as the $33.6 million project neared completion.

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A similar diverging diamond interchange opened at the University Parkway and I-75 interchange in Sarasota in 2017. That was the first one ever constructed in Florida.

An additional lane is expected to open on S.R. 56 in Pasco County this summer.