Interstate 285-Georgia 400 project starts with ceremonial groundbreaking

[afguy]

In what Deal described as a "slightly unconventional"  setting for a groundbreaking, he ceremonially launched an ambitious makeover of the I-285/Georgia 400 interchange during a ceremony on the 32nd floor of the "King"  building, in full view through picture windows of the interchange far below.

"This interchange is one of the most congested areas in the United States,"  the governor said. "This is at the heart of much of [metro Atlanta's] growth and the congestion that comes with the growth."

During the next four years, construction crews will add new flyover ramps and collector-distributor lanes to improve east-west travel along I-285 and north-south travel on Georgia 400. The project is due to be completed in mid-2020.

Mark Burkhalter, a member of the State Transportation Board whose district includes the Perimeter area, credited Deal and the General Assembly with passing a $900 million transportation funding bill last year that is speeding up the construction schedule. Under an earlier timetable, work wasn't to have begun until 2021.

"There were a lot of roadblocks to getting the funding,"  Burkhalter said. "But the governor and General Assembly accelerated this project. If they hadn't done that, we wouldn't be standing here today."

After the interchange improvements are completed, a 10-year, $10 billion statewide transportation plan Deal unveiled last winter calls for adding lanes along the entire "top end"  of I-285 between interstates 75 and 85, and north along Georgia 400 to McFarland Parkway.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/11/03/interstate-285-georgia-400-project-starts-with.html

[Great Lakes Roads]

This will be a mess for a few years...
But, this will be a nice turnout when this interchange gets completely reconstructed!

[Finrod]

Here's the Georgia webpage about this:

http://www.dot.ga.gov/BS/Projects/SpecialProjects/I285SR400

This junction desperately needs upgrading, so I want to see this progress as fast as possible.

[Georgia]

clearing has started on the job according to the fiance who works in the vicinity of Northside Hospital

[Finrod]

clearing has started on the job according to the fiance who works in the vicinity of Northside Hospital

I drove 285 East to 400 South yesterday morning and there were a number of trees down but not yet cleared away to the right of the ramp I was driving.

[Finrod]

Gov. Deal Announces Beginning to I-285/SR 400 Interchange Project:

https://www.georgiapol.com/2016/11/03/gov-deal-announces-beginning-285sr-400-interchange-project/

The project will have a budget of $800 million and will include developments "on I-285 from west of Roswell Road in Fulton County, to east of Ashford Dunwoody in DeKalb County and on SR 400 from the Glenridge Connector to Spalding Drive,"  aiming to alleviate congestion via the addition of new features such as flyover ramps, collector-distributor lanes and other features. Surveying and inspections have already begun for this project, and it is expected that construction will begin in the "first quarter"  of 2017. Officials assert that the improvements, expected to be completed by 2020, will save those traversing the corridor an average of 8 hours per year and will drastically reduce delays for travelers of the interchange.


(I think they meant first quarter of 2018, not 2017.)