DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Residents and business owners in south DeKalb County say the reopening of the Cedar Grove Bridge marks the end of a six-year disruption that rerouted heavy truck traffic through neighborhoods and contributed to the loss of local businesses.
County leaders officially reopened the bridge Monday after a project delayed for years by railroad coordination, utility conflicts and construction challenges.
“It’s a great nuisance,” homeowner Juaney Rigsby said of the years-long closure.
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The bridge, which connects Moreland Avenue to nearby industrial areas, serves as a primary route for tractor-trailers. After the bridge failed an inspection in 2020, DeKalb County closed it and diverted truck traffic onto residential streets in Conley, where neighbors complained about noise, traffic and deteriorating roads.
“We’re hoping with this bridge they’ll come out and take a quick left and be over to the main highway,” Rigsby told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln.
County commissioners approved $4.1 million in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funding for repairs and initially projected the bridge would reopen within two years. Instead, the closure stretched to six years.
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Business owners say the extended timeline took a significant financial toll.
“We lost two businesses, three businesses on this street just because the bridge was closed,” Rigsby said.
Wayne Smith, who owns commercial property near the bridge, said vacancies increased during the closure.
“My office building was full before the bridge closed. Now I got two tenants in there,” Smith said.
Another business owner, Albert Wilson, told Channel 2 Action News in 2022 that the closure cost his convenience store more than $100,000 annually in lost revenue. His business has since closed.
“I’ve lost over $100,000 a year in revenue because that bridge is closed,” Wilson said at the time.
DeKalb County selected a contractor in 2023, but officials said construction was delayed while crews coordinated work around an active railroad and multiple utility lines beneath the bridge.
District 3 Commissioner Nicole Massiah said county leaders worked to provide residents with more transparency as the project progressed.
“We were finally able to get a timeline, so that communicated to the community this is what you should expect,” Massiah said. “Prior to that, you were just told, ‘It’ll get done, it’ll get done,’ without specific details.”
With the bridge now open, residents hope truck traffic will once again bypass neighborhood streets, while county officials say they are discussing an economic development plan aimed at attracting businesses back to the corridor.
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