Sunday’s Falcons game against the archrival New Orleans Saints tops the sparse calendar of downtown events this weekend, but there won’t be any shortage of road construction projects to slow metro Atlanta motorists.
Doug Turnbull in the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center warns that with a huge crowd expected for Sunday’s 1 p.m. Falcons game, motorists can expect heavy volume on downtown interstates and surface streets near the Dome. Turnbull suggests taking MARTA to avoid the traffic jams.
Traffic will also be heavy on roads leading to Athens for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. Georgia-Auburn football game.
Other weekend events in the downtown and Midtown areas include the Uptown Rhodes Race 5k, which will be run Saturday morning on streets in the Ansley Park neighborhood, and the Atlanta Mattress 500, in which teams will be racing beds through Atlantic Station Saturday morning to benefit the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta.
The weather should be perfect for those outdoor events, with sunny skies forecast all weekend, along with highs in the 60s.
Potential road construction trouble spots include the ramp from I-285 northbound to I-20 westbound in DeKalb County, which will be blocked from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Satuday.
Also in DeKalb, repaving will shut down at least one lane of I-285 northbound from Chamblee Tucker Road to I-85 and I-285 eastbound from Buford Highway to I-85.
On the southwest quadrant of the Perimeter, the ramp from I-285 eastbound to I-85 northbound will be partially blocked all weekend, while in Clayton County, the ramp from I-75 southbound to C.W. Grant Parkway will be closed from 9 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Sunday and a couple of lanes of I-75 northbound will be blocked from Forest Parkway to Central Avenue during those same hours.
Also in Clayotn County, there wil be traffic pacing and rolling lane closures on I-75 northbound from Mt. Zion Road to Old Dixie Highway, beginning at 9 p.m. Friday and continuing through 5 a.m. Monday.
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