Georgia Tech football and a big marching band competition at the Georgia Dome top the list of events this weekend that could jam downtown streets.
While weather won’t be a factor for the bands, Tech fans headed to Bobby Dodd Stadium for Saturday’s 8 p.m. game against Clemson will be glad to hear that Friday’s rain should be gone well before kickoff. It will, however, be a raw, blustery night for sitting outside in a stadium.
About three dozen of the nation’s top high school marching bands, from as far away as Oklahoma and Texas, will compete in Saturday’s Bands of America regional championship, which begins at 7:45 a.m. and runs through 11:30 p.m. at the Dome.
Other weekend events include concerts by rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at Philips Arena and Sunday’s 7 a.m. Atlanta Marathon, which starts and ends at Atlantic Station and is expected to shut down numerous downtown and Midtown streets during the morning and afternoon.
Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said rain that was moving through Alabama toward Georgia at daybreak Friday should reach metro Atlanta by the afternoon and continue through Friday night's high school football games, but Saturday and Sunday will be sunny and chilly, with afternoon highs around 60 degrees and overnight lows in the upper 30s and low 40s.
Saturday will also be breezy, with northerly winds of 15 to 20 mph, gusting to 30 mph.
Those sunny skies should allow weekend road construction to take place as scheduled.
Potential trouble spots this weekend include I-75 north and southbound in Cobb County, where cable repair could close lanes on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Other construction is planned on the ramp from I-285 southbound to I-85 northbound on the southside, on the ramps from I-75 north and southbound to I-285 westbound in Clayton County and on I-285 in both directions between Ashford Dunwoody and Chamblee Dunwoody roads.
MARTA, meanwhile, said scheduled track work would affect service on its four rail lines.
On Saturday and Sunday, Green Line trains will shuttle between Bankhead and Ashby, where passengers can change to Blue Line trains. At the Vine City, Ashby and Bankhead stations, all trains will board from the eastbound platforms. Green and Blue line trains will operate on a special 24-minute schedule.
On Sunday only, Red Line trains will operate only between North Springs and Lindbergh Center. Customers traveling to and from North Springs will have to transfer between Red and Gold Line trains at Lindbergh. Service between the Lindbergh and Airport stations will be every 20 minutes.
Also, at the East Lakewood and Oakland City stations, all trains will board on the northbound platform.
MARTA advised customers were advised to allow extra time for their trips.
--Dispatch editor David Ibata contributed to this article.
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