Transportation crews have reopened the Interstate 10 interchange at Watson Road, part of the state’s freeway widening project in the Buckeye area.

The interchange, which opened April 27, has been reconstructed using the diverging diamond design, allowing two directions of cross-street traffic traveling over or under a freeway to shift to the opposite side of the roadway.

“The crossing is designed to improve the overall movement of traffic and enhance safety by limiting potential traffic conflict points and allowing direct left turns onto a freeway entrance ramp,” Arizona Department of Transportation officials said in a release.

“Drivers avoid waiting at a traffic signal and don’t cross in front of opposing traffic when making those left turns.”

ADOT is continuing to widen eight miles of I-10 from two to three lanes in each direction between Verrado Way and State Route 85.

The entire $82 million I-10 improvement project, which was launched in July 2021, is on schedule for completion this summer, officials said.

The I-10/Watson Road interchange is the fourth full diverging diamond to be added along the state’s highway system.

The nearby DDI at Miller Road opened in August. Others have been constructed at I-17 and Happy Valley Road in north Phoenix and along I-10 at Houghton Road in the Tucson area.

Two smaller diverging diamonds also are in use along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway in Phoenix, according to ADOT.