New flyover ramp on Ga. 400/285 interchange has some drivers confused

ATLANTA — Drivers have a new way to get from Georgia 400 to Interstate 285 but some drivers are getting confused at the new route.

Triple Team Traffic showed you live as the flyover ramp opened Monday morning on Channel 2 Action News This Morning.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach drove it Tuesday morning and it does come up on you a lot quicker then before.

The ramp to get from Ga. 400 southbound onto I-285 east starts well back, even before the Hammond Drive overpass.

Where you used to be able to wait, cross over I-285 and do the quick loop. That ramp is now closed.

This is the first big opening of the makeover of the Georgia 400/I-285 interchange after years of construction.

Drivers who travel along the interchange, especially in the dark, need to be alert and aware.

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“I think people who are used to taking this interchange in its old configuration would wait with that late wait to the last minute to merge over and with the new configuration of this project, they’re not going to be able to do that anymore,” said Georgia Department of Transportation spokesperson Natalie Dale.

Dale said the new ramp, 80 feet in the air and the tallest part of the new project, means drivers have to make their decision much earlier.

On Monday, the new configuration caught drivers off-guard. In response, crews put out more signage and changeable messages to warn of the switch overnight.

“The feedback that we got was that that might have been confusing they didn’t know which signs, we’re applying to which, by the time they realized that the sign was addressing the, the new flyover opening. Then they, they were past the point that they needed to make that decision,” Dale said.

Officials say get used to the new traffic pattern because it’s permanent.

“This is your new configuration so take some time to get used to it and again give yourself patience. Slow down. Crews are still out there, and there’s no reason to rush it,” Dale said.

I-285/Ga. 400 interchange project in North Fulton delayed a year The $800 million project will open in 2021.

Cox Media Group