A normally busy section of I-285 is closed for roadwork, detouring metro Atlanta motorists and leaving a westside stretch of the Perimeter eerily empty this weekend.
The closure will continue through 5 a.m. Monday, the Georgia Department of Transportation previously announced.
Traffic developments Sunday followed a similar pattern as Saturday’s congestion, building up around noon.
GDOT traffic maps showed sections of red-marked hang-ups along the detour route, which includes I-75/I-85 and I-20. Motorists were also moving slowly in some parts of the West End and Cascade Heights neighborhoods, according to the map.
Around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, it took about 10 minutes to drive 1½ miles on I-20 East approaching the Downtown Connector.
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Cameras in the closed I-285 area, including one at Cascade Road, showed an interstate dotted with orange construction barrels and free of traffic. Another camera, near Benjamin E. Mays Drive, showed big work trucks rolling through and crews on site.
A GDOT spokesperson did not respond Saturday to a request for comment on the progress.
Credit: GDOT
Credit: GDOT
Officials closed the busy westside section of I-285 to accommodate crews working on a reconstruction project to rebuild one of the nation’s most choked traffic bottlenecks. All north and southbound lanes are closed between Exit 9 at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to Exit 7 at Cascade Road.
Northbound drivers are being routed to Langford Parkway to take I-75/I-85 up to I-20 and then back over to I-285, and southbound motorists will take the same detour in the other direction.
GDOT said in a statement the closure “will have significant impacts on travel throughout the metro area.” Drivers should avoid the area if possible. If you must proceed, “allow substantial extra travel time” and check traffic congestion before heading out, GDOT said.
Area businesses are preparing for the disruption. Tenants at Greenbriar Mall, just east of I-285, “are aware of the delays that could possibly affect the traffic” and are concerned, a mall spokesperson said in an email.
Though the weekend closure is timed to avoid the thick of weekday work and school commuting traffic, there will still be plenty of motorists trying to get around metro Atlanta.
North of the blocked interstate at Truist Park, the Braves played the Red Sox at 7:15 p.m. Saturday and again at 1:35 p.m. Sunday.
The VaHi Porchfest, when music lovers take over the front yards of homes in Atlanta’s Virginia-Highland neighborhood, was Saturday.
Several Atlanta schools also are celebrating commencement. Morehouse School of Medicine and Morris Brown College held their ceremonies Saturday. Morehouse and Spelman colleges have events scheduled Sunday.
Spelman advised graduates and their families to “arrive earlier than usual” for the college’s afternoon commencement at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park.
GDOT had aimed to shut down the interstate over Mother’s Day weekend, but a rainy forecast prompted officials to pause for one week until sunshine beckoned.
This time around, the weather shouldn’t throw up such a big speed bump. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies Saturday. There’s a chance for rain Sunday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, but showers “will be only isolated to scattered at best.”
— Staff writers Cassidy Alexander and Taylor Croft contributed to this report.
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