I-85 work to occur at night

By Staff (89672)

Sunday, May 13, 2007
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - Officials are hoping the only putting people have to worry about this week is on the golf course.

The Georgia Department of Transportation will work nightly on the Interstate 85/Ga. Highway 316 project during this week's AT&T Classic to try to keep the visitors from having to putt-putt through traffic, spokeswoman Teri Pope said.

"We expect additional traffic in the work zone headed to the event, so we will not have any daytime lane closures," Pope said.

Between 120,000 and 140,000 people are expected to attend the tournament, which begins Monday and lasts through Sunday.

But the event won't stop work on the I-85 interchange. Pope said crews will work overnight on southbound lanes, closing at least two inside lanes from 8 p.m. overnight to 5 a.m. Monday through Saturday morning to remove the obsolete Old Norcross Road bridge over the interstate.

"Crews will literally be taking the bridge down piece by piece," Pope said. "To ensure nothing falls into traffic, tarps will be placed under the work area and lanes under the work area will be closed to traffic. The removal work southbound will take about three weeks. Once we get down to the beams we will have to pace traffic to remove them but that pacing will happen after 11 p.m. We will let you know more details on the pacing when we get closer to that work."

On Friday, the exit ramp of I-85 northbound to Pleasant Hill Road will be moved closer to the interstate to give crews room to work to widen the ramp.

Pope asked drivers to proceed with caution in the construction zone, noting that speed limits have been lowered to 55 mph on I-85 and 45 mph on Ga. 316 and that fines are doubled in the work zone.

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