Don’t get it twisted: Diverging diamond interchange coming to Henderson road

Another freeway interchange in Henderson is scheduled to be transformed into a somewhat controversial design.

Plans call for Green Valley Parkway over the 215 Beltway to be converted into a diverging diamond interchange.

Diverging diamond interchanges (DDI) allow vehicles to turn left onto freeway on-ramps without stopping and without conflicting with through traffic. The uncommon setup will cross over to the left (or opposite) side of the roadway, with traffic signals set up to safely guide traffic at each crossover.

In addition, a pedestrian bridge is planned for construction over Green Valley Parkway, connecting both sides of the District at Green Valley Ranch shopping and retail spaces.

“The interchange here at Green Valley Parkway, which has a lot of congestion, and the DDI and the conjunction of a pedestrian bridge at Village Walk provided the best alternative for traffic,” said Brooke Prescia, project engineer II for the city of Henderson.

The Dollar Loan Center arena is also located just south of the 215, at the intersection of Green Valley and Paseo Verde parkways. On busy event nights, such as Henderson Silver Knights games, the already busy road gets even more congested. That’s why adding a DDI makes sense at Green Valley Parkway, as opposed to Valle Verde, which is one exit to the east on the 215, according to Prescia.

“There is more volume at Green Valley already and with the addition of Dollar Loan Center and The Distrct and some of the things that are at Green Valley, I don’t recall that there are any issues at Valle Verde that we have at Green Valley,” Prescia said.

Henderson is already home to one other diverging diamond interchange, on Horizon Drive over Interstate 11, which opened to traffic in 2015. The Green Valley Parkway version will differ a bit from the one on Horizon because it was a retro fit, Prescia noted.

“I think it had limited life even, as far as the capacity of it, it was just kind of a quick fix,” Prescia said. “This one at Green Valley is designed for 2050 (traffic projections). Horizon is a different situation, because it’s almost like a “T” situation at Horizon and Horizon Ridge (Parkway), then it’s immediately impacted by the I-11. There’s a lot of complications at Horizon that we don’t have here at Green Valley.”

The addition of the DDI and the pedestrian bridge are part of the planned $111 million 215 widening project. That includes widening the beltway between Pecos Road and Stephanie Street. Two lanes will be added in each direction on the stretch of the busy 215.

Ramp improvements at Valle Verde and Stephanie also are part of the project that is planned to break ground later this year.

Henderson is hosting a virtual public meeting through Feb. 15 on the planned widening project.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X. Send questions and comments to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com.