The formal opening of the $676 million Springfield Interchange on Wednesday was applauded by motorists who had endured the notoriously confusing stretch of intersections that had earned the nickname the Mixing Bowl.

Few had more reason to be happy with the improvements than David Arthur, who has guided student drivers through the bewildering maze of highways.

“There are fewer close calls with other vehicles than in the past,” said Arthur, who teaches driver’s education at Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County. “It is very nice now that it is all finished. The kids have much more time to decide which direction they will go.”

Fairfax County Police and Virginia State Police said anecdotal evidence suggests the improvements have significantly reduced accidents in the interchange. A two-year study conducted before the project began in 1999 found that the Mixing Bowl had one of the highest accident rates of any East Coast interchange.

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“The old infamous Mixing Bowl was known for its nerve-rattling merges that tormented drivers,” said David Ekern, commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

“It used to be a nightmare,” Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Springfield.

New lanes and ramps have opened to motorists as crews completed them, providing gradual relief to the area. More than 430,000 motorists pass through the interchange, where Interstates 95, 395 and 495 converge.

Before the eight-year project, drivers faced a complicated and dangerous set of lane changes and exit ramps.

More than 50 bridges and ramps have been added to the interchange in the past eight years, and I-95 was widened to 24 lanes between I-495 and Franconia Road.

The new traffic patterns are requiring some adjustment from drivers accustomed to the old interchange, however.

AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Lon Anderson said he recently went the wrong way while traveling from Alexandria to Montgomery County because of the new alignment. He made the same error as a car full of teens did in June, when the teenage driver tried to quickly change lanes and swerved in front of a tractor-trailer that could not stop in time. The driver and her three passengers died in the collision.

“If you aren’t paying attention, if you are just driving along in the left-hand lane of the Beltway, you end up going toward Richmond instead of Tysons Corner,” Anderson said. “I just waited until the next exit to turn around, but the teen driver tried to change lanes. You have to be aware of where you’re going and you have to drive safely.”

Transportation officials said Wednesday they often have to add directional signs to new highways to help drivers adjust and are prepared to install additional signage at the Mixing Bowl if needed.

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com