Headed out of town for spring break? Prepare for long trip times on interstates.
“In case you thought spring break (afternoon) rush hour wasn't already in effect, it has been since the end of (the morning) rush hour,” the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center said in a tweet.
The Traffic Center reported 54-minute delays on northbound lanes and 26-minute backups on southbound lanes of I-75 in Henry County just before 2:30 p.m. Friday.
“It’s real on the Southside,” according to another tweet.
To make matters worse, many drivers passing through Atlanta on Friday morning were held up by a police standoff that snarled the southbound lanes of I-75 in Cobb County for nearly two hours as officers tried to coax an armed robbery suspect out of his vehicle.
Police were able to apprehend the man at 11 a.m., but the interstate closure backed up southbound traffic for miles.
RELATED: Tense I-75 standoff with armed robbery suspect blocks lanes for hours
WSB traffic reporter Ashley Frasca called it a “perfect storm” for congestion on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
“Just in time for those delays to begin improving, spring break travelers are going to start trekking through the city,” she said. “There’s not going to be any relief, pretty much from here on out.”
Northbound lanes were “awfully” slow just before 2:40 p.m., according to the Traffic Center.
“But the Peach Pass lanes are open and only $2 for a full trip,” the Traffic Center said. “Worth it today.”
An overturned car has shut down Bill Murdock Road at Casteel Road in east Cobb, creating congestion for surface streets as well, according to police.
Still, the biggest delays will continue to be south of Atlanta along the stretch of I-75 South through Henry County, according to Frasca.
“That is where everything really starts to bottleneck, generally between the Stockbridge and the Locust Grove areas,” she said, adding that travelers from surrounding states arrived in metro Atlanta just as schools were letting out Friday afternoon.
The delays are expected to last through most of the weekend, finally letting up Sunday afternoon or evening.
To accommodate the influx of motorists, the Georgia Department of Transportation has suspended its road projects this weekend.
With the exception of the ongoing road work at I-285 and Ga. 400, GDOT has restricted construction and maintenance-related lane closures on Georgia’s interstates this weekend and next.
The agency will also keep its I-75 express lanes flowing southbound all weekend to accommodate the flood of travelers heading to the beach.
» For updated traffic information, listen to News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB and follow @ajcwsbtraffic on Twitter.
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