Welcome back from spring break, metro Atlanta.
Now brace for a forecast of car-mageddon.
Friday marked the end of the first full work week since fire caused the collapse of a crucial Buckhead stretch of I-85. And while the gaping hole in the interstate sent drivers scurrying around the Perimeter and scrambling across surface streets, the fact that every major metro school district was out for spring break meant that, relatively speaking, traffic wasn't all that bad.
The vacation, however, ends Monday — when the kiddos will be back in class and the Georgia Department of Transportation expects traffic to increase by as much as 20 percent.
“Georgia is an international business center, home to Fortune 500 companies and some of the most innovative and forward-thinking organizations in the world,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a statement released Friday. “The challenge posed by the closure of I-85 is one we can overcome if we all plan ahead and take advantage of the options available.”
Said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed: "We are not in a business-as-usual situation."
Business as usual went by the wayside on March 30, when a section of I-85 at Piedmont Road went up in flames. The fire – allegedly started by a homeless man and fed by construction material stored under the bridge – destroyed the northbound lanes and damaged the southbound lanes.
GDOT officials are working feverishly to have I-85 rebuilt and reopened by June 15.
In the meantime, state and local officials are bracing for Monday’s commute — and many more after that.
MARTA has added extra service lines and other transit agencies have followed suit. Gwinnett County officials announced Friday that new bus routes will take riders directly to MARTA's Chamblee and Doraville stations. Uber has extended a 50 percent discount on all pool rides from MARTA stations through the entire month of April.
Atlanta city offices won't open until 10 a.m. Monday, and Atlanta Public Schools urged students to be at their bus stops 15 minutes earlier than normal for the remainder of the school year. School doors will also open 15 minutes earlier than usual.
Surface streets near the collapse — Sidney Marcus Boulevard, Piedmont Road, Cheshire Bridge Road — are open, as are parts of the Buford-Spring Connector.
But GDOT Commissioner Russell McMurry has repeatedly stressed the importance of public transit and urged employers to allow telecommuting as much as possible. He also asked businesses to consider allowing workers to tweak their schedules and stay off the road during peak traffic hours.
“If we all work together, we can all get where we need to go in a relatively reasonable time frame,” McMurry said.
Reed, meanwhile, is worried that this week’s relatively breezy drives will lead people to understimate Monday’s potential traffic woes.
He said Friday he was “really concerned about people being stranded on highways.”
“Without a full tank of gas, you’re putting yourself in jeopardy,” Reed said.
—Staff writers David Wickert and Arielle Kass contributed to this report.
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