Between several major sporting events and the 41st Atlanta Pride Festival, huge crowds are expected this weekend in downtown and Midtown.
Saturday and Sunday’s Pride Festival at Piedmont Park will be highlighted by the annual Atlanta Pride Parade, which steps off at 1 p.m. Sunday.
According to police, the parade will travel on Ralph McGill Boulevard from West Peachtree Street to Peachtree Street, then up Peachtree Street to 10th Street before turning east on 10th Street to Piedmont Park.
Traffic will be restricted along the parade route beginning around noon on Sunday, police said.
Police warned event attendees in a statement that parking is limited in the area, and that the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the park “are not suitable for parking during such events.”
Sporting events that could add to the congestion include the Georgia Tech-Maryland football game at noon Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium, the Georgia State-Murray State game at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome and the Falcons-Green Bay Packers game at 8:20 p.m. Sunday at the Dome.
Other sporting events scheduled this weekend include Clark Atlanta University’s homecoming football game against Miles College at 1:30 p.m. at the CAU stadium and the Atlanta Dream's sold-out WNBA Finals game at 8 p.m. Friday at Philips Arena. If Atlanta wins, Game 4 will be played at 4 p.m. Sunday at Philips Arena.
Other non-sporting events include Saturday’s Great Atlanta Beer Festival at Turner Field and the Sweet Auburn Music Fest Saturday and Sunday along Auburn Avenue.
The weather for the outdoor events should be picture-perfect. Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said skies will be partly to mostly sunny all weekend, with no rain in the forecast. Afternoon highs should be in the mid- to upper 70s, with overnight lows in the mid- to upper 50s.
Weekend road construction will again shut down multiple lanes of several metro Atlanta interstates, much as it did all summer.
Areas to avoid this weekend include the top-end Perimeter in both directions between Ashford Dunwoody and Chamblee Tucker roads, the I-285 southbound ramp to I-20 eastbound in Dekalb County and I-85 northbound from Clairmont Road to Chamblee Tucker Road.
Other likely trouble spots include I-75 north and southbound between I-285 and Central Avenue south of downtown, as well as the ramps to and from the Downtown Connector and Langford Parkway.
Doug Turnbull in the AM 750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center also reports that most of the southbound lanes of Cobb Parkway at Delk Road will be shut down from 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday. Traffic will be detoured through the northbound lanes, but Turnbull suggests avoiding the area if possible.
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