Get ready for another weekend packed full of downtown sporting and other events. This time, though, there will also be construction projects blocking lanes on some of the interstates around town.
The Braves take on the Mets at Turner Field, with first pitches scheduled for 7:35 p.m. on Friday, 4:10 p.m. on Saturday and 1:35 p.m. on Sunday, while at the Georgia Dome, the Falcons play the Eagles at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday.
The Dome will also be playing host to the Great American Football Classic, a series of six high school football games spread out over Friday and Saturday.
A couple of miles away, Georgia Tech’s football team plays Kansas at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Atlanta Dream women’s basketball team will be in playoff action on Sunday, playing Connecticut at 3 p.m. at Philips Arena.
There will also be the usual heavy traffic Saturday morning between Atlanta and Athens, where the Georgia Bulldogs play Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m.
Non-sporting events scheduled for this weekend include the 20th annual “For Sisters Only” marketing, information and entertainment event Saturday and Sunday at the Georgia World Congress Center and the Atlanta Arts Festival, which runs Saturday and Sunday at Piedmont Park.
Forecasters are promising prime fall-like weather for this last weekend before the autumnal equinox, which occurs at 5:04 a.m. Thursday.
Just days after hitting the 90s for a record-tying 90th time this year on Wednesday, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton is predicting “much cooler” weekend weather, with highs only reaching the upper 60s Friday and Saturday, then topping out around 70 degrees on Sunday.
Fans attending Friday night's high school football games will need a jacket or sweater as temperatures will be dropping into the 50s.
Minton said there’s a 20 percent chance of scattered light rain and drizzle through Saturday.
That rain will likely not be heavy enough to keep planned interstate repaving projects at bay, so motorists can expect delays on several routes.
Doug Turnbull in the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk Traffic Center said “big delays” can be expected around Spaghetti Junction, as work will shut down the ramp from I-285 eastbound to I-85 northbound from 11 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday and the ramp from I-85 southbound to I-285 westbound beginning at 9 p.m. Friday and continuing through early Monday. That will have a major impact on traffic returning from the Georgia game in Athens.
Road crews will also be blocking ramps to Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in that same stretch of I-285. Turnbull’s advice: plan alternates.
On the eastside, there will be construction on the ramp from I-285 southbound to I-20 eastbound.
Four lanes of the northbound Downtown Connector and I-75 from I-285 to University Avenue will be blocked all weekend, while three lanes of I-75 southbound will be shut down from Cleveland Avenue to I-285. Entrance and exit ramps in that stretch will also be affected.
Also in Fulton County, the two right lanes of I-285 southbound at Cascade Road will be blocked by construction.
As usual, all of those planned construction closures are weather-permitting.
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