Several road projects set for this weekend

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Transportation will be working on several road construction and maintenance projects over the weekend.

Crews are trying to make up for several rainy weekends and get as much finished as they can before the Memorial Day weekend.

Drivers can expect to see construction and maintenance delays on the top end of Interstate 285 as crews work on a resurfacing project.  Also, crews will shut down traffic to a single lane on Sidney Marcus Boulevard as they work to complete the Georgia 400/Interstate 85 flyover interchange. Crews will also be busy along I-85 in Gwinnett County between Pleasantdale Road and Jimmy Carter Boulevard.

"We've had such bad, rainy weather, we're really looking forward to some good weather this weekend," said GDOT spokesperson Natalie Dale.  "This is the best time to get caught up on our maintenance projects as well as our construction projects."

Dale said they want to complete as much of those projects and other ones as they can before the three-day Memorial Day weekend.  All construction projects will halt for three days to accommodate the expected rush of vacationers.

The forecast this weekend calls for some rain, which could delay the projects again.

Many drivers are dreading the upcoming projects.

"Oh, it's going to be terrible," said Brianna Sentelik as she sat in traffic along Sidney Marcus Boulevard.  "The traffic in Atlanta is bad already; shutting down more lanes isn't going to help."

Will Baker added, "You can't get around it.  However many shortcuts you think you know, you're going to run into something."

Dale encourages people to use GDOT's 511.com to check traffic maps before heading out on the road.

WSBTV