Delay of lane closures will push back end date for entire 285/400 project, GDOT says

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Transportation said it’s going to delay a major construction project to help save you time.

It involved reducing lanes along the stretch of Interstate 285 from Roswell Road to Ashford Dunwoody Road.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington learned the state got pushback from commuters saying they were concerned about the gridlock the lane reduction would cause.

GDOT was going to shut down two lanes of traffic in both directions along I-285, but now that idea is on hold until next year.

Quintin Palmer said he didn’t like the idea from the beginning.

“Traffic is already as bad as it is around this time with kids getting out of school,” Palmer said.

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Natalie Dale with GDOT said the lane reduction was designed to make room for the rebuilding of three bridges.

Thursday, the state announced that plan was on hold.

“A massive lane reduction on the top end that would’ve taken away two lanes in each direction for a minimum of six-plus months,” Dale said.

Dale said GDOT looked at models of the project and those models showed major traffic jams.

“A severe impact on traffic, so we went back to the drawing board,” Dale said. “We will have no lane reductions in this area of this type until June of next year. It allows us to complete all the parts of the project that will give us mobility and capacity.”

GDOT said by then there will be new ramps and other capacities to help minimize traffic build-up.

The postponement of the lane reductions will now delay the whole 285/400 interchanged project to a later date.

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