ATLANTA — A major rebuild project on Interstate 285’s westside across the metro Atlanta area scheduled this weekend has been canceled, Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Natalie Dale confirmed.
The contractor made the decision late on Friday, according to Dale.
“They were not confident given the weather that they would be out of the road on Monday morning by 5 a.m.,” Dale said. “That is a really important part of this closure, that they are in and have those lanes rebuilt and released back to the public for morning rush hour the next week.”
GDOT officials had previously said they could potentially cancel because of the weather, and they have now confirmed that’s why it’s been canceled.
Several miles of I-285 between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Cascade Road in Fulton County were expected to shut down in both directions beginning at 7 p.m. Friday night. The closure was originally scheduled to last until 5 a.m. Monday morning.
The Georgia Department of Transportation previously said crews will begin rebuilding portions of the roadway, replacing concrete slabs that are roughly 60 years old.
The project was expected to create significant travel impacts across metro Atlanta this Mother’s Day weekend.
The rebuild project is expected to cover about 17 miles of I-285 over the next three years and will require several similar weekend closures.
Officials say the work is intended to address deteriorating roadway conditions along the corridor.
“Those concrete slabs are roughly 60 years old and so they have well out lived their useful life,” Dale said. “Someone said I almost hit one that was the size of a two bedroom, two bath apartment,” Dale said.
There is no word on when the project will be rescheduled.