Road work delays during weekday rush often triggered by two big culprits

Have you noticed that metro Atlanta freeways are engulfed in various phases of major road work?

You probably have, but let’s recap.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is rebuilding the I-285 and I-20 interchanges on the east and west sides of town, and completely replacing the concrete with asphalt on almost 20 miles of the west side of I-285. The state also is building toll Peach Pass express lanes along 16 miles of Ga. 400 between Sandy Springs and Cumming, and will soon build similar ones along the entire north half of I-285.

You also may have noticed several instances of overnight road work lasting past the posted cutoff time, normally 6 a.m. on weekdays.

Criticizing GDOT and its contractors for not lifting lane closures and causing sometimes hefty backups is easy and often warranted. But there are freak instances that delay reopenings.

In the last two weeks alone, crews have overstayed their welcome into a weekday morning drive on I-20 westbound between I-285 (Exit 67) and Wesley Chapel Road (Exit 68) in DeKalb County; I-285 both ways near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (Exit 9) in southwest Atlanta; and I-20 eastbound between Thornton Road (Exit 44) and Six Flags (Exit 47) in Cobb County.

Crews on that same stretch of I-285 northbound between Cascade Road (Exit 7) and MLK kept weekend road work in two right lanes until 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 14, as the road surface had a hole in it and was not ready for travelers. That reopening was more than 25 hours overdue.

My 11Alive traffic co-anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen and I reach out to GDOT almost every time this happens. Spokesperson Natalie Dale probably tires of sending similar responses each time, but most road work maladies stem from two things: equipment issues and weather.

Equipment failures, especially of pavers, can pose setbacks during resurfacing.

“This has an immediate impact on the paving operation and subsequent activities, such as striping and removal of traffic control devices,” Dale said in an emailed statement.

She said asphalt plants sometimes run into issues supplying work sites with paving material, which also can result in delays with clearing the closures.

Dale told me in an interview soon after the longer-lasting I-285/Cascade closure that the state does a deep dive into the cause of any logistical project issues, and they hope to learn from each one.

There also are clauses in contractors’ agreements with GDOT that can result in fines for damages caused by closing overages.

The biggest X-factor, however, is the weather. Both weather and equipment delayed that I-285 northbound/Cascade closure. Weather also contributed on a recent weekday when the two right lanes remained blocked in each direction on I-285 in that same zone, the state said.

And we have seen that meteorological fear postpone scheduled I-285 full weekend closures. Some of those weekends ended up with very little rain. But GDOT did not want to risk drivers in Fulton and Cobb counties enduring an entire interstate’s closure during a weekday rush hour. Thankfully, none of the full I-285 closures that went forward have lasted past 6 a.m. on a Monday.

The state, however, could still do better. There is a disconnect between road crews and the team at the 511 Traffic Management Center, which oversees all active traffic incidents around town. We often notice a crew staying out late (or even beginning their work) without notifying TMC operators. And there could be more pressure put on the supervisors of those crews to communicate and clear out on time.

The state also could notify drivers with more urgency, especially when multiple lanes remain blocked past 6 a.m. Instead, the overages come across as routine when they most certainly are not.

Drivers can also do their part in work zones by slowing down and driving more carefully. Crashes and stalls in work zones can easily add to the backups or potentially delay the construction work being cleared.

When more crews are out working — and Atlanta may see more concurrent projects than it ever has — more things can go wrong. This is yet another reason why commuters should check their route with traffic experts before wading into it.

Doug Turnbull covers the traffic/transportation beat for WXIA-TV (11Alive) with Rachel Cox-Rosen. Their reports appear on the 11Alive Morning News from 6 to 9 a.m. and on 11Alive.com. Email Doug at dturnbull@11alive.com. Subscribe to the weekly “Gridlock Guy” newsletter for the column here.