Traffic was being rerouted Saturday along one busy interstate overpass until early Monday as road crews prepare for the big unveil of the city's first "diverging diamond" interchange.
That will offer Atlanta motorists at Ashford-Dunwoody Road and I-285 a new experience: legally driving on the wrong side of the road.
The goal isn't a European driving experience, but fewer traffic backups for the 55,000 cars that travel this area weekdays.
Motorists have not detoured around the overpass since 9 p.m. Friday as crews work to reconfigure the lanes adjust the traffic signals that the diverging diamond interchange will require, said Jill Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
No major problems have been reported, she said.
The state is spending $5.5 million on what could be a quick and relatively cheap fix to the massive backups that plague the area each day.
The design will reroute traffic from right lanes to left lanes and back again so motorists can avoid waiting for an arrow, allowing a left turn.
The reconfiguration of the overpass at Ashford Dunwoody and I-285 to a diverging diamond interchange may be a first. But it likely won't be the last. The DOT has similar plans to try to improve traffic flow at the I-85 interchanges at Jimmy Carter Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road.
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