The weekend before Martin Luther King Jr. Day will bring some cloud cover and a small chance of rain with resurfacing projects and other construction work on local interstates causing traffic delays.
Here’s what you need to remember to avoid the work zone backups:
The Express Lanes Project will require a traffic shift at I-285 westbound to I-75 northbound from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
Also, two eastbound lanes will close at the I-285 interchange to I-75 from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
Alternating lanes will close on the I-285 westbound collector-distributor lanes to I-75 southbound from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
And I-75 will experience several lane closures throughout the weekend.
Two southbound lanes of I-75 will close at Barrett Parkway from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
Two northbound lanes of I-75 will close between Windy Hill Road and SR 280/Delk Road as well as two southbound lanes between SR 120 Loop/South Marietta Parkway and SR 280/Delk Road. The closures will last from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
Also on I-75:
One northbound and one southbound lane will close under the Canton Road Connector from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.
And one southbound lane will close on the on-ramp to the Canton Road Connector exit and at the SR 280/ Delk Road exit from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
In Cobb County, one right lane will close on Frey Road from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and flagging on Bells Ferry Road under I-75 will happen from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Work on South Metro Express Lanes will mean two- and sometimes three- day closures also.
As part of that work: One northbound lane and section along the shoulder of I-675 will close at SR 138/ Stockbridge Road from 7 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. And one northbound lane of I-75 will also close between the I-675 interchange and SR 138 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Updating sign structures will cause other interstate lanes to close.
One northbound lane on I-75 will close between Windy Hill Road and SR 120 Loop/North Marietta Parkway and at SR 280/Delk Road from 7 p.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Sunday. Two westbound and one eastbound lanes of I-285 will close at Bouldercrest Road from 9 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday. Two westbound lanes of I-285 will close between SR 139/Riverdale Road and the I-85 interchange from noon Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday. And one westbound lane of I-285 will close at SR 54/Jonesboro Road from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Work on the I-20 will also mean lane closures.
One eastbound lane and the shoulder of I-20 will close between SR 70/Fulton Industrial Boulevard and the I-285 interchange from 9 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Sunday. And two eastbound lanes will close on I-20 between SR 139/ Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard from 10 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Two northbound lanes will close on the I-285 westbound ramp to I-85 northbound from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. Traffic will be diverted to the Pleasantdale Road exit and merge onto I-85 northbound.
And lastly, one lane will close on SR 237/Piedmont Road at Habersham Road from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.
Weekend to see temp drops and some cloud cover
Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz is forecasting cloudy skies through Sunday, with a 20 percent chance of a wintry mix Sunday morning.
Afternoon highs will be in the mid-50s Saturday and the upper-40s Sunday, with morning lows in the low 40s Saturday and upper-30s Sunday.
» Check the full forecast and track changes
MLK Day march highlights weekend events
Participants will start assembling at 1:15 p.m. for an MLK Day march that begins at 1:45 p.m. Monday at Peachtree and Baker streets. The march is one of 13 events in Atlanta commemorating King's life.
But even if you skip MLK Day festivities, options for entertainment are plentiful.
More than 90,000 attendees are expected to attend the Atlanta International rug, gift and home furnishing markets each day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday at AmericasMart.
Expecting a crowd about a sixth of that daily attendance, the Atlanta Hawks plays the Brooklyn Nets from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Philips Arena.
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