Gwinnett Daily Post

Special Photo. Officials with the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District unveiled a new look for the Pleasant Hill Road at Interstate 85 bridge, which will be transformed early next year to feature a diverging diamond style.

DULUTH -- Special lighting, landscaping and a new facade will greet interstate drivers as they approach the Pleasant Hill Road bridge.

Officials with the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District unveiled a new look for the bridge, which will be transformed early next year to feature a diverging diamond style.

"Our stakeholders have helped us craft a distinctive entry to the county's central business district," said Leo Wiener, the CID board's chairman. "I believe they will be proud of the finished product and will benefit greatly from having the DDI project completed in early 2012."

The diverging diamond interchange will have drivers pass into the opposite lanes on the bridge, allowing continual left turns onto the interstate. It'll be a dramatic change as the first of its kind in Georgia, along with the Jimmy Carter Boulevard interchange, which will be built around the same time.

But the change will also be dramatic for those that approach the bridge from I-85. There, a unique fence will create a new look, and at night, lighting will enhance the appeal, officials said.

The design was created by a 16-member project steering committee, which held months of meetings and gathered opinions from area business owners, residents, business and government leaders and members of the international community.

The bridge renderings are available at www.facebook.com/GwinnettPlaceCID. More information about the new design is available under "projects and plans" and "project initiatives" at www.gwinnettplacecid.com.