The massive construction project at the I-285-Ga. 400 intersection and the reduction of lanes on the Perimeter is one of those quintessential Atlanta stories.
Beginning Saturday and lasting for eight months or longer, I-285 will be reduced to three lanes between Roswell Road and Ashford-Dunwoody Road, with westbound closures to follow, according to the Ga. Department of Transportation.
The "road diet" touches upon the metro area's deepest obsessions: traffic and business. Road disruptions hit at Atlanta's s most cherished myths of wide-open capitalism.
A front-page column Thursday by the AJC's Bill Torpy sounded the alarm. Torpy fears an increase in accidents, although he also pointed out that the closures might make drivers pay more attention.
The intersection lies near the center of Sandy Springs, which could suffer the most serious economic damage from the shutdown of one lane in both directions. Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul told Torpy that the intersection has sparked a development boom along the Roswell Road corridor, which Paul called the metro area's economic center.
That's a bit exaggerated; while luxury apartments and condos have risen along Roswell Road north of the Perimeter, strip shopping centers, sex shops, laundromats and fast food restaurants still dominate.The corridor is one of the Atlanta area's most diverse thoroughfares.
But just north of the Roswell Road I-285 connection, the spectacular city hall complex, theater and fountain trumpet Sandy Springs' vision for the future. A mixed-use development of housing, offices and retail will rise nearby. The grubby small businesses are unlikely to survive.
With just one lane closed east and west, Sandy Springs' momentum won't be slowed, although streets like Hammond Drive, Hildebrand and Mount Vernon Road will be swollen with traffic.
While the construction project ignores mass transit, Paul envisions express buses rather than light rail running along the Perimeter.
The closures come when the Braves begin their quest to repeat as World Series champions. Fans who enter I-285 at Roswell Road will face delays getting to Truist Park.
But like our beloved Braves, Atlantans show resilience. As in the past when such crises arise, Atlanta workers will persevere and survive this one.
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