Some Atlanta Construction Halted During I-85 Repairs

Mayor Kasim Reed’s office said in a news release Monday that Reed issued an executive order suspending the work between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. from Monday through Friday for parts of the city. Reed says the suspension of construction work is meant to help ease traffic congestion.

“We heard from the Buckhead Coalition, you know, a call to action for [The Georgia Department of Transportation] and for the city to make sure that we were doing what we could do in our power to keep their roads as closure-free as possible to keep lanes flowing,” GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale said.

The city has also prohibited non-local traffic in certain areas to ensure access for first responders and to hospitals as drivers seek different routes to get where they’re going.

The city is also encouraging people to consider telecommuting and using mass transit.

“We’re working as hard as we can to make it as pain-free as possible and get this bridge back up as quickly as possible,” Dale said.

A section of I-85 collapsed March 30 after a massive fire, and reconstruction is expected to take until at least mid-June.