Drivers can finally thank the hated Ga. 400 toll for something.
A revamped I-85/Ga. 400 interchange that’s opening Wednesday evening will help unclog Buckhead surface streets. And it was all bankrolled by $21.4 million in toll funds.
Motorists will be able to start using the two flyover ramps sometime around 5 p.m., after new signs are unveiled and barricades that prevented vehicles from entering the construction zone are removed, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Multiple lanes on I-85 will be closed over the weekend, however, as a sign is installed.
The $21.4 million project was initially expected to be finished by Dec. 31. Weather delays pushed back the opening date.
Ever since Ga. 400 opened in 1993, drivers heading south on Ga. 400 who wanted to go north on I-85, and drivers going south on I-85 who wanted to access Ga. 400 North, have had to exit one highway and take surface streets to enter the other. GDOT says daily traffic volume on Ga. 400 in the area averages more than 60,000 vehicles.
All that diverted traffic clogged Sidney Marcus Boulevard and other streets in the vicinity. The new interchange will be a “win-win-win” for both local and highway travelers, and area businesses, said Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition.
“The important thing is, it is dramatically decreasing traffic congestion on the surface streets, on Sidney Marcus, on Buford Highway, on Piedmont (Road), and on other nearby arteries where cars used to have to get off of one to get on the other,” Massell said.
When Gov. Sonny Perdue decided to extend the toll in 2010, he said the additional collections were needed to build the Ga. 400/I-85 interchange and other projects. However, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) would have had $42.5 in the bank if the toll ended on schedule — enough to build the interchange with millions left over.
Although the Ga. 400/I-85 interchange is now complete, there is still work left to do on an overhead sign on I-85 South that alerts drivers to the upcoming entrance ramp.
Officials at the Georgia Department of Transportation had hoped the sign work would be finished last weekend, but rainy weather Friday and Saturday forced crews to postpone part of the work.
So now, between two and four of the six lanes of traffic in both directions will be closed again this weekend — and even through Monday morning and evening rush hour, according to GDOT spokesman Mark McKinnon.
That will create miserable delays for spring breakers and other road warriors, so officials are warning drivers to take alternate routes if possible.
- Four of six southbound lanes of I-85 between Clairmont Road and North Druid Hills will be closed between midnight and 7 a.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
- Triple-lane closings will be in effect on that part of I-85 South during the daylight hours.
- Two left lanes on the same segment of I-85 North will be closed all weekend until 5 a.m. Tuesday.
McKinnon said it is unusual for GDOT to allow such disruptive lane closures on I-85, especially on a weekday, but this is an extenuating circumstance.
“It might be more difficult on the public if we had to do two or three weekends of triple lane closures,” McKinnon said. “This way, we can condense it to one weekend and a Monday and get it over with.”
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