Piedmont Road partially reopens near I-85 bridge construction

ATLANTA — Part of Piedmont Road at the site of last week's bridge collapse on Interstate 85 has been reopened.

Part of Piedmont Road closed at 9 p.m. Monday, but was reopened early Tuesday morning.

Three southbound lanes and one northbound lane were reopened, according to Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach.

Jeff Leiker is a wine consultant at Tower Beer, Wine and Spirits along Piedmont Road in Buckhead.

[PHOTOS: I-85 bridge collapse aftermath]

He said the nearby fiery bridge collapse Thursday and the horrendous traffic following it have been bad for business.

"Street traffic is rough at best," Leiker told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus. "There's no question. It's definitely hurt business. There's no way it could help."

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He said Friday and Saturday, sales plummeted by at least 50 percent.

"Going down Cheshire Bridge has been a nightmare. It's crazy," said Isiah Swinton, who lives blocks from the shop, off Piedmont Road.

Swinton said taking his kids to school has been a horrible commute.

"They shut off Piedmont right at my building, so we were forced to go all the way around, cut through neighborhoods and all of that. It added like 30 or 45 minutes," Swinton told Klaus.

But things appear to be looking up.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said Piedmont Road will be closed Monday night, but will reopen indefinitely starting Tuesday morning at 5 a.m.

"Very good news. It reunites us with all our friends in Midtown that had such a hard time driving around," Leiker said.

On Monday afternoon, Gov. Nathan Deal said he's asking the federal government for more money to deal with the ripple effects of the fiery bridge collapse.

"We are doing everything within our power to get things back to normal," Deal said.

There's no definitive timeline on how long it will take to fix the I-85 bridge.

The GDOT said bridge designers are working around the clock, drafting plans for the new bridge.

Cox Media Group