Fresh Loaf

The U.S. Surface Transporation Board, the federal agency that regulates railroad issues, has granted Amtrak, Georgia Department of Transportation and Beltline officials’ request to give them time to resolve the bitter dispute over a 4.8-mile segment of railroad in Northeast Atlanta.

Acting Secretary Anna Quinlen’s filing today says the agencies must report the progress of their talks no later than March 6.

To download the decision, click here (PDF). It’s also pasted after the jump.

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You know that whole Beltline dispute? The one in which the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak basically told Beltline officials that they’d have to make room in Northeast Atlanta for a commuter rail line? Officials from the agencies and departments involved met this morning and had what I’m sure was a very interesting sitdown. They’ve requested the federal government give them 30 days so they can try and resolve the dispute as a group.

So sayeth a joint statement from the agencies:

Atlanta – A meeting of officials from key organizations including the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Beltline, Inc., Amtrak, the Atlanta Regional Commission, MARTA and the Transit Implementation Board along with staff from Congressman John Lewis’ office was held today to discuss the critical issue regarding plans for the Northeast Beltline Corridor (“Decatur Street Belt”) and future options for multi-modal passenger terminals (MMPT).

The overarching goal of the meeting was to share information, communicate directly, discuss alternatives and seek out viable solutions for an amicable outcome that is in the best interest of our customers. To that end, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Beltline Inc./ Atlanta Development Authority, Amtrak and Norfolk Southern have agreed to formally request that the Surface Transportation Board issue a 30 day stay of their proceedings in this matter in order to work towards a common solution that accommodates the Beltline vision, intercity and high speed rail in the region.

During this time, a technical team will work to investigate the potential alternatives. An Executive Team will also work to develop a final agreement between all of the parties.

All of the organizations involved acknowledged the importance of the Beltline project to the City of Atlanta and the region. Each recognized the common goal to provide much needed regional transportation options for the residents of and visitors to the City of Atlanta which have a profound effect on the economic future for the entire state of Georgia.

After the jump, exclusive video of Beltline officials confronting the GDOT Beast about its plans.

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RAIL RALLY Beltline supporters say Amtrak, GDOT's plans jeopardize Beltline

When it comes to the future of public transit in Atlanta, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

The good news: After decades of bowing at the throne of roadbuilders, the Georgia Department of Transportation says it’s finally taking off the kneepads and getting serious about train service that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the Southeast.

The bad news: Thanks to an unexpected tiff between GDOT and city of Atlanta officials, the Beltline — the transformative 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit that would one day circle the city — might be in jeopardy. That’s because the train service that GDOT is suddenly embracing would have to run on or near the proposed Beltline tracks. What’s more, Piedmont Park, the city’s most iconic greenspace, might have to be severed by a heavy-rail route in order to accommodate GDOT’s vision.

Last week, CL first reported that GDOT — working in tandem with Amtrak — threw a wrench in Beltline officials’ plans for light-rail, trails and additional green space near Piedmont Park. Just as Norfolk Southern, the current owner of the tracks in question, was about to surrender them to the city, GDOT and Amtrak stepped in and halted the proceedings. Those two agencies now say the tracks in dispute are vital to their own vision for commuter rail.

“Simply put, because of GDOT’s boorish behavior and AMTRAK’s willingness to play along, the future of the city of Atlanta is at stake,” Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote in an urgent letter to U.S. Congressman John Lewis to seek his assistance.

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U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, has requested AMTRAK President Joseph Boardman work with city and regional planners, officials and residents to resolve the “Decatur Belt” dispute between the federal agency, the Georgia Department of Transportation and Beltline officials.

Lewis says AMTRAK’s actions “have the potential to unnecessarily disrupt one of the most important public benefit projects that the City of Atlanta has undertaken in recent memory.” He adds that “these combined actions are not the model of a productive and healthy local, State and federal partnership with the shared goal of revitalizing transportation services in Metro Atlanta.”

Download a PDF of the letter here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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…but it would be problematic for them to do so on the Beltline property in Northeast Atlanta that’s become a bone of contention for the city, the Georgia Department of Transportation and AMTRAK.

In 2005, Beltline visionary Ryan Gravel and Friends of the Beltline Inc. issued a study that examined how the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit may be affected by the various rail lines circling Atlanta. (Download the study PDF here.)

In regards to the “Decatur Belt,” the 3.5-mile segment that runs from DeKalb Avenue to Ansley Mall, the study says:

use of this line for the commuter rail network is problematic for the following reasons:

• The original alignment of the Decatur Street Belt with the main line into downtown Atlanta was broken by the reconfiguration of Hulsey Yard and the construction of the elevated East MARTA line and King Memorial Station.
• Use of the Decatur Street Belt puts Amtrak trains through residential areas and Piedmont Park, crossing surface streets at Monroe Drive, Irwin Street and DeKalb Avenue.
• The Decatur Street Belt is too narrow south of Freedom Parkway for the Belt Line and Amtrak to share right-of-way with separate tracks.
• Shared use of the tracks themselves in this corridor would be difficult due to topographic and physical constraints.
• Any shared arrangement would make the Belt Line much less desirable by eliminating greenspace and permeability and by increasing safety concerns, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.

The group proposed several recommendations, including tinkering with the Brookwood station where AMTRAK currently stops. One of the biggest challenges the Beltline will face is actually connecting the rail segments that will create its spine and shape.

If you’re a transit lover and want to know more about the current dispute, as well as the project’s other connectivity challenges, this study is well worth a read.

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Man, the Beltline can be pretty confusing, huh? So can writing about transit agency disputes.

To put it plainly: The vision of a 22-mile loop of transit, parks and trails is now in jeopardy after the state Department of Transportation and AMTRAK unexpectedly announced they had their own heavy-rail plans for the project’s northeast section along Piedmont Park.

On Wednesday, members of the Beltline Network, a citizen group that supports the project, will meet for a special-called meeting to discuss how to keep the $2.8 billion “Emerald Necklace” — the largest public-works project of its kind in the country — on track.

Liz Coyle, chair of the Beltline Network, writes in an “urgent” e-mail sent yesterday to members (emphasis added for the more civic-minded Fresh Loaf readers who want to get involved):

I am calling a special meeting of the BeltLine Network on this Wednesday, January 28, at 4:30pm at Trees Atlanta, 225 Chester Avenue. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and strategize a community response to a threat to BeltLine transit. I will provide more details as available at the meeting, but to summarize the situation and get right to the point, AMTRAK has begun condemnation proceedings on the NE Corridor of the BeltLine. This is in response to Norfolk Southern Railroad (NSR), Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) and Atlanta Development Authority (ADA) pursuing rail abandonment on the Northeast Corridor (aka the “Decatur Belt”) with the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB), a necessary step to advancing light rail transit in the BeltLine corridor. Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and AMTRAK have filed Motions to Stay the abandonment proceedings.

More on Coyle’s e-mail and the issues — and questions — surrounding this dispute after the jump.

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HIT THE BRAKES Beltline faces another obstacle — from GDOT and AMTRAK

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Beltline, the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit proposed to circle Atlanta, it’s that surprises are to be expected. And some interesting developments are afoot with the $2.8-billion project.

If you recall, Atlanta Beltline Inc. — the nonprofit agency in charge of planning and implementing the project — finalized its purchase of a 66-acre piece of property in October owned by Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son Keith, an Atlanta attorney. The Mason property included  land and transit right-of-way. The $66 million purchase riled city watchdogs not only for the ultimate payout to the Masons — more than double what father and son originally paid for the land in 2004 — but also the deal ABI cut with a private partner group it needed to buy out if it wanted to use tax-exempt bonds to finalize the purchase before a Halloween deadline. That’s background, and for all intents and purposes, irrelevant for the moment.

Beltline leaders hoped to complete planning the area, implement transit, and sell off excess land to developers. They would then re-invest the windfall from those sales back into the overall project. But before it could do anything with the property, it first had to abandon the transit right-of-way. That humdrum process is conducted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and largely involves just some time for public comment and a shuffling of papers. It was supposed to be a walk in the park.

Looks like that’s not turning out to be the case. An eleventh-hour move by the state Department of Transportation and AMTRAK has potentially thrown a wrench in the Beltline. And why those two odd entities decided to hold hands and insert themselves into the conversation — this late in the party — is making folks scratch their heads.

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Jeez, guys, didn’t you read that he was taking a train to Washington, D.C.?

The Georgia Public Interest Research Group has just released its analysis of the state Department of Transportation’s wishlist for President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus funds. And the group says the state agency’s list favors asphalt over rails.

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s wish list requests:

• Georgia would spend only 34.3 percent of funds on public transit/intercity rail projects.

• The state DOT has allocated 69 percent of the two billion dollar highway project funds to the maintenance needs of the state’s infrastructure. This is a higher portion than most other states but would still leave many bridges and roads in a state of disrepair while building new highways.

• GDOT also lists three bike/pedestrian projects in Fulton County: West End Rail Multi-use Trail ($2.2 million), Fourteenth Street ($7.6 million), and Downtown Atlanta Pedestrian ($6.7 million).

There are some worrisome aspects to these high-dollar and ambitious wishlists, too.

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Tired of swallowing Xanax every time you jump on a plane to visit the folks? You might get an alternative, my weary friend.

A new multi-state study says high-speed rail is feasible along I-85 from Charlotte, N.C. to Macon. Greenville, S.C. and Atlanta would be stops along the route.

From a press release about the study:

The Charlotte-Macon Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor study assesses the capacity and speed capabilities of the corridor and estimates possible ridership, revenue, operating and capital costs associated with extending high-speed passenger rail from Charlotte, N.C. to Macon, Ga., along the I-85 corridor. The report also addresses the feasibility of train speeds up to 150 miles per hour, including new track construction in locations that would increase speeds and avoid congested areas. The study was conducted by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass.

“This effort supports our shared belief that we must seriously consider — and plan for — transportation alternatives in these rapidly developing areas,” said Georgia Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans. “Given the growth our states continue to experience, we must explore every tool in our tool box in order to move the needle on transportation reform.”

…

High speed rail service, where appropriate, will provide business and leisure travelers with a competitive alternative to air and auto for trips between 100 and 500 miles.

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are working together with the business communities in each state to plan, develop and implement high speed rail in the Southeast. If implemented, the system would be developed incrementally, upgrading existing rail rights of way where possible.

What’s next? More studies, of course, including environmental assessments and modeling to gauge how viabile it would be to connect high-speed rail to other cities such as Washington, D.C. and Boston. Nowhere in the release does it mention how much the project would cost, which, in the end, is what determines whether it gets off the drawing board and into reality.

The complete study is also available online for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Full press release is after the jump.
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Gary Reese, one of the pixel-stained wretches at InsiderAdvantage, pulls back the curtain on a piece he’s researching about the state Department of Transportation’s vote to kill a Ga. 400 project. He says it’s a “blockbuster” and one to watch.

Reese offers a lengthy 1,551-word teaser. Essentially: There’s a bigger story behind the DOT board’s decision late last year to kill a deal proposed for the “Hospitality Highway.”

He says there are a bunch of e-mails and potentially ghostwritten press releases, too. CL readers might recall a story I wrote last year about Gov. Sonny Perdue’s trip to Spain, and rumors that the jaunt would include a sit-down with executives from Cintra, everyone’s favorite private toll road company. (Perdue did indeed sit down with the firm.) Reese says Cintra — along with some other big names in finance and transportation — will play a role in his story, as well.

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A coalition of officials from the state and metro region’s transportation planning agencies have vouched to now take the next step in addressing the issue — moving past pretty blueprints and visions and focusing on the more complex process of actually finding ways to build the mobility solutions.

The Transit Planning Board yesterday, in its final meeting under that banner, unanimously approved a “new year’s resolution” to create the Transit Implementation Board, or TIB. That agency, which will supplant the board, will examine how the region can implement Concept 3 (PDF) — a gridlock-relieving vision of light-rail, heavy-rail and bus routes that would spider throughout metro Atlanta.

The Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and MARTA — members of the board — have all passed resolutions in support of Concept 3.

From a press release from the group:

“Two years ago, our region needed to focus on developing a vision for transit that we could all support,” stated TPB and Clayton County Chairman Eldrin Bell. “Today, we’re saying our focus needs to be on implementation. This year has filled me with optimism regarding what our region can accomplish when we work together Now, however, the hard part begins.”

The TIB’s first meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29.

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Sorry, Andisheh. A $110-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will be used for high-occupancy toll lanes along a section of I-85 primarily in Gwinnett County.

I pass the mic to Ariel of the AJC:

The 14-mile project, from the Perimeter in DeKalb County to Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett, is seen as a seed that would spread to all 44 miles of Atlanta’s HOV lanes.

The tolls will be electronic, with sensors pinging a transponder in each car on the toll lane, and no stopping for toll booths. The toll price would rise and fall with congestion on the main highway: a higher price when traffic congestion is high, lower when traffic is light. Officials said questions like how much the toll price would be required more study. A similar project in California costs drivers about $1 a mile at the most congested time of the week.

And as usual, the comments are the best part.

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Dale Russell of Fox5 Atlanta has an investigative report airing tonight at 6 and 10 p.m. that looks into DOT Commissioner Gena Evans (nee Abraham) and explicit e-mails she sent to former boyfriends when she worked at different state agencies. If they’re the same ones reported late last week by WSB’s Richard Belcher, then they’re sexual in nature.

Evans has denied she did anything wrong and has understandably questioned who’s behind the examination of her past. The commissioner’s widely considered a reformer at the uber-powerful and long-beleaguered state agency. It’s been rumored, however, that her appointment angered many proponents of the status quo. Whatever the case, word is that some high-level folks are keeping an eye on this item. UPDATE: Galloway says the DOT Board will discuss the e-mails in a closed-door session on Nov. 13.

Says Russell:

It began with a computer disk with hundreds of e-mails written by DOT Commissioner Gena Evans. Written, before she was at the DOT, while working at other state agencies. Written on state computers, often during office hours. Many are personal. Some, very personal, even sexually explicit. They took us on a trail to personal relationships that some say conflicted with her professional responsibilities.

Click here to check out Russell’s preview of the report. (I was going to say “tease,” but that just seems too easy in this case.) Click here to view what aired on WSB.

The look into the e-mails — which were unearthed by Open Records enthusiast George Anderson  — has generated an interesting discussion on Peach Pundit and Live Apartment Fire. (Dale at LAF examines the newsroom decisions that led to the airing of the e-mails; Erick at PP says he thinks reporters are being led on a witch hunt by enemies of Evans.)

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Not Mike Evans. But it kind of looks like him.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has appointed Mike Evans, the former State Transportation Board chief who resigned after he and Commissioner Gena Abraham revealed the two were in a relationship, to the Department of Community Affairs Board.

After resigning from the DOT board, Evans was rumored to run for the Public Service Commission’s Northern District or try to return to the General Assembly. (Evans served eight years in the state House of Representatives.) He and Abraham recently married and she took his last name.

The Department of Community Affairs serves as an advocate for local governments, operates a large number of state and federal grants, and helps communities with planning, housing and building. (They’re also to thank for all those nifty Georgia History markers you see around the state.) Evans will serve as an “at large” representative.

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The Masters of Pavement will be resurfacing southbound lanes of I-75/85 this weekend — one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year — and we’re doing our part to tell you to stay the hell away from the asphalt prison during the project. Don’t go near it. If you’re in Marietta and need to get down to Clayton County for some reason, take I-285.

Why? At 9 p.m. on Friday, the DOT will close all but two lanes on I-85 southbound near its merge with I-75. At that same merge, I-75 will be reduced to one lane. Few lanes for a lot of people. The road work will continue until Tuesday morning.

Avoid, avoid, avoid. Take public transit to the many planned festivities this weekend or I-285 if you do have to get behind the wheel.

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S. Heather Duncan at the Macon Telegraph has an excellent article today about the always-sexy, superhot XXX topic of “project prioritization” — in other words, what projects the state Department of Transportation decides to do and when they decide to do ‘em. An agency spokesperson says the days of “kissing the ring” — local officials would make their way to DOT’s dilapidated headquarters to beg for this or that — are over.

And if you want to know why that four-lane road that was supposed to lead you to Uncle Turbo’s Bait Shack is still unfinished, this article may give you some answers.

From the article:

When DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham took over the department nine months ago, she discovered more than 9,000 projects on the books and a $1 billion budget shortfall. Road projects that weren’t already under building contracts were put on ice until the state could reprioritize.

The department can only complete about 270 projects a year, said Mark McKinnon, a DOT spokesman.

Projects will be ranked. Those that aren’t high enough on the priority list to be completed within about six years will be eliminated, said DOT spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan. The DOT will no longer keep projects on the books that can’t be finished for half a century, she said.

But as always, the comments give me chuckles:

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Just a hunch, but that’s what one person is whispering. U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters is in town today to make an announcement. Ariel Hart of the AJC provides a solid write-up about the official’s visit and background and focuses, but she focuses more on Peters’ penchant for public-private partnerships.

We’re all about rumors here, so here’s another take from a source on why Peters visited our tiny hamlet:

We are told that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters today will unveil proposed “reforms” for consideration next year by Congress, when it takes up transportation legislation.

Among those “reforms,” we are told, includes elimination of a much-needed program to reduce congestion and clean up air pollution. (The Transportation Dept. boasts of it here: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/cmaqpgs/index.htm ) This program goes by the ugly acronym of CMAQ.

It was revised a few years ago by Congress, which ordered DOT to focus more spending on cleaning up dirty diesel engines – absolutely the most cost-effective use of such money. DOT, unfortunately, has basically tried to sandbag the program, and now wants to kill it altogether.

This would be a missed opportunity to clean up dirty diesel pollution and improve air quality across much of the nation.

We are told that DOT also may propose weakening or the Clean Air Act program aimed at making sure that transportation projects don’t worsen air quality. (Known in the jargon as conformity) and may seek to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act as well.

Under the Bush administration, DOT has often been viewed as an arm of the car industry. (You may recall that DOT lobbied Congress to try to block California’s attempt to enforce its greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles.) Now it appears to be a leg of the asphalt lobby.

Again, it could be totally wrong. But don’t be too surprised if it’s right. Congress has the final say in the matter.

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Yes, it’s happening again this weekend on I-75/85 downtown between 10th Street and University Avenue. It sucks. If you can, take transit or seriously consider making the long loop around the city on I-285.

After the jump, details from DOT.

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As is the custom on Fridays here, we remind you that the DOT will resume its weekend resurfacing project on I-75/85 between 10th Street and University Avenue. This weekend the agency will close several northbound and southbound lanes, as well as exits in between. If it rains, we’re granted a reprieve, but that’ll be another weekend in the future this goes down. A full list of the exits and specific details about the project are available after the jump.

If you can, use transit to travel this weekend. Idling on the asphalt wasteland wastes gas, burns up money, and pumps disgusting bits of nasty into the air.

If you decide to brave the roads, please use caution.

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From the DOT:

The Georgia Department of Transportation has installed 11 new meters on I-85 entrance ramps between North Druid Hills Road (Exit 89) and Pleasant Hill Road (Exit 104). The meters will begin operating during afternoon rush hour on Monday, July 7. The entire corridor should be operational by Friday, July 11. Fifteen additional corridors with 140 ramp meters will be phased in within the next year.

Ramp meters are turned on before rush hour, and operate at different times of day depending on traffic patterns. Every 3-5 seconds, a cycle from red to green allows one vehicle at a time to merge onto the freeway. On two-lane ramps, the left and right lanes have alternating lights, so the left lane goes while the right is stopped, and vice versa.

“Although motorists will spend a little extra time on the ramp, they should see a decrease in overall travel time,” Georgia DOT Operations Director Steve Henry said. “We’ll monitor these new ramp meters very carefully. If traffic starts to back up on the ramp, sensors will speed up the meters to allow more vehicles to move through. If our cameras show traffic spilling out onto the surface streets, we can turn them off completely.”

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The ramps that will be operational during the week of July 7 are:

North Druid Hills Road (northbound and southbound)
Chamblee-Tucker Road (northbound only)
Jimmy Carter Boulevard (northbound and southbound)
Indian Trail Road (northbound and southbound)
Beaver Ruin Road (northbound and southbound)
Steve Reynolds Boulevard (southbound only)
Pleasant Hill Road (southbound only)

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WITHDRAWAL METHOD: Third of three candidates for president of Georgia State withdraws his name from consideration, leaving no active candidates.

STORK LIFT: South Georgia’s endangered wood stork is making a comeback, having doubled the number of nests found last year, according to the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division.

DOT: Settles sexual harassment charges against two former board members for nearly $150,000.

PACK LIGHT, PACK HEAT: State Rep. Tim Bearden thinks better of bringing a gun to pick up his family, but Georgia Carry continues his crusade, suing the city, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Hartsfield-Jackson GM Ben DeCosta for the right to bear arms at the airport. Also, giddy gun carriers congregated Tuesday at a Cobb County restaurant to mark the first day they could do so.

STUDY: Finds Georgia needs to raise college graduation rates.

T.I.: Andrew Young is working to mold the rapper into a different kind of King.

VOTER REGISTRATION: Continues to grow in Georgia. But don’t take my word for it — this AccessNorthGa news graphic answers all your questions.

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This weekend will be the perfect time for you to finally set up that easel in the middle of a busy interstate and start painting the skyline.

Starting Friday at 9 p.m. and lasting until Monday morning, the DOT will close northbound and southbound lanes on I-75/85 to resurface the road between University Avenue and 10th Street. That means both your traffic and the cars traveling in the other direction will sputter rather than speed.

Six southbound exit ramps and four northbound exit ramps will be closed. The I-20 access ramps may be limited to one lane.

Avoid this area. Heed my words. On I-85 southbound, gridlock caused by this resurfacing backs up all the way to North Druid Hills Road. And it’s stop and go at best when it’s not hurry-up-and-wait.

If you can, take public transit to get where you need to go, or consider using I-285. The trip may take just as long, but at least you’ll be moving, your car won’t be idling, and you won’t get frustrated by the people driving illegally down the shoulder.

And if you do decide to brave the interstate, use caution. There’s already been one DOT worker killed during the project.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The former state legislator is currently involved in a sexual harassment investigation at the transportation agency.

InsiderAdvantage has more details.

Pinholster’s the second boardmember to resign in several months; the first was former Chairman Mike Evans who resigned to pursue a relationship with DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham. State lawmakers from the congressional district Pinholster represents will have to vote for a replacement.

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The AJC is reporting Gov. Sonny Perdue will make an announcement about transportation tomorrow that may hint at support for commuter rail.

If that’s the case, look toward the sky — porcine creatures, propelled by their methane and guided by those cute little tails, will be soaring gracefully alongside jet-fuel gobblin’ Delta planes.

From the AJC:

In vague outlines to the board, the governor expressed support for commuter rail and for considering funding options such as privately-built toll roads.

The governor said he supports measures to increase spending for transportation. Two measures — restoring a portion of the gas tax that now goes to the general fund and returning some bond debt service to general fund — could produce as much as $400 million a year, DOT officials said.

UPDATE: This baby’s got a name! IT3 — Investing In Tomorrow’s Transportation Today.

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The Department of Transportation says that several southbound and northbound lanes of I-75/85 will be closed near downtown this weekend. Here are the specifics:

Southbound:

• Four inside (left) lanes will be closed between 17^th Street and I-20

• Two inside (left) lanes will be closed between I-20 and University Avenue

Northbound:

• Three inside (left) lanes will be closed between University Avenue and I-20

• Four inside (left) lanes will be closed between I-20 and 17^th Street

These closures are necessary for crews to safely work in the fourth (center lane). During the weekend crews expect to lay more than 13,000 tons of asphalt brought by more than 350 dump trucks. There will be more than 200 workers within the work zone.

These closures are expected to cause significant delays. Georgia DOT advises motorists to utilize I-285 to avoid backups.

I’ve forgotten about these warnings every weekend and paid dearly for it. Learn from my mistakes and take public transit if you can.

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