Drivers should avoid the northern Perimeter again this weekend if they can, as the state continues its paving job on the northwest section of I-285. Lane and ramp closures will dot the area, and each of them may back up traffic quite a ways.
Sorry to say, but if your alternate route includes I-85 inside the Perimeter, be aware there’s also roadwork at the I-85/Ga. 400 interchange in Buckhead, with lane closures.
WHAT
The Georgia Department of Transportation is repaving the northwestern section of I-285 for the first time since 1995, between Paces Ferry Road in Cobb County and Ashford Dunwoody Road in DeKalb County.
YOUR DOLLARS
The project is expected to cost $56 million.
PINCH POINTS
DOT warns of more than half a dozen places on the Perimeter where one or two lanes will be closed, and even entire interchange ramps. Those include a ramp at I-75 and one at Ga. 400.
CHECK AHEAD
To get more details on the closures and see moment-by-moment congestion conditions, click on Georgia-Navigator.com or call 511. In general, do check ahead with the online color-coded highway congestion maps. Red means traffic is stuck.
WHEN
This construction can go from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. The official completion date is August, 2013.
WEATHER
All construction depends on weather’s cooperation, since workers can’t lay asphalt in the rain and it can’t set properly in freezing weather. But according to Channel 2 Action News Severe Weather Team 2, so far this weekend’s forecast looks okay – for the road crews at least.
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