After long construction project, westbound lane on I-285 to reopen

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A long-closed lane on the westbound side of Interstate 285 is set to reopen Sunday. It’s been closed since October.

Overall, the construction project has been underway for more than six years.

Come Sunday, all four lanes on westbound I-285 will open once again, and navigating 285 at Georgia 400 could get a little easier.

The Georgia Department of Transportation told Channel 2′s Bryan Mims the effort was a milestone for improving traffic and road safety improvements.

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Since last fall, westbound I-285 has been reduced to three lanes from Ashford Dunwoody Road to Roswell Road.

It’s caused major traffic backups.

With the lanes set to reopen, traffic should flow a little easier.

Traffic since the lane closures for construction has been anything but peaceful.

“It’s exhausting and stressful and Atlanta traffic is just getting worse and worse,” said Jen Teyf, a Georgia driver.

She regularly takes I-285, driving through the work zone.

The Transform 285/400 project has been underway since February 2017. It was the largest interchange road construction project in the state.

Teyf told Channel 2 Action News that she’s ready for it to stop and for construction to end.

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In October 2022, GDOT started squeezing four lanes of traffic into three lanes in both directions so crews could demolish and rebuild three bridges.

The department warned it would result in profound traffic delays, but now that bridge work is in the rearview.

“We think it’s a pretty big milestone,” said Kyle Collins, a GDOT spokesman. “We think we can give capacity back to the driver, that’s going to help and it’s definitely going to reduce some frustration.”

He said it was a big stride toward the finish line for the $800 million interchange makeover.

“This is one of those final pieces for us to get towards fully open to traffic and substantial completion by the end of this year,” Collins said.

For drivers, reopening the fourth lane will help ease off the aggravation.

“It’ll help out because the traffic is terrible man, especially in this Sandy Springs area,” Corey Graham, a driver, said. “It’s kind of rough, you know what I mean?”

All four of the eastbound lanes on I-285 reopened a few weeks ago. The westbound lanes are expected to be reopened by noon on Sunday.

GDOT said most of the major work on the project should be done by the end of the year.

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