ATLANTA — The late Rep. John Lewis will arrive back home in Atlanta today, following four days of tributes and services that have taken the congressman and Civil Rights hero back to his native Alabama and then to Washington, D.C.
As he did at the Alabama and U.S. capitols, Lewis will lie in state at the Georgia State Capitol today from 2 p.m.-10 p.m.
Along the way, the motorcade will wind through Atlanta, offering a number of potential viewing points for the public. This is the general expected route:
- After Lewis' casket and his family arrive at Dobbins Air Reserve Base from Washington, the motorcade is expected to depart at about 12:40 p.m.
- They will then travel south on I-75, exiting at 10th Street. It should take about 15-20 minutes for the motorcade to reach the exit. The bridge over I-75/85 offers a potential viewing point.
- The motorcade will then head east along 10th Street, offering a long stretch for those who wish to watch it pass from the sidewalk, before the plan is for it to stop at the Rainbow Crosswalks at the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue.
- They will then travel another short distance east to Monroe Drive, traveling past Piedmont Park, which will offer good viewing opportunities.
- The motorcade will then turn right on Monroe Drive, heading south to Ponce De Leon Avenue. There's plenty of sidewalk space in this area to watch from.
- They'll turn left on Ponce and head east, traveling past Ponce City Market and under the Beltline along the way. There's a small foot bridge over Ponce on the Beltline (a short distance past the new Kroger and the back entrance to PCM) that you could possibly watch from, but it could very easily get overcrowded.
- The motorcade will then turn right and proceed onto John Lewis Freedom Parkway. There's green space at the corners of the intersection of Ponce and John Lewis Freedom Parkway, and again at North Avenue, if you want to watch from there.
- The motorcade will continue along John Lewis Freedom Parkway, passing the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library complex, and proceed toward Boulevard. If you want, the Freedom Park walking/biking trail will offer some good views from above to watch the motorcade pass, around the trail entrance off Alaska Avenue.
- The intersection of Boulevard and John Lewis Freedom Parkway is a large one and offers some viewing potential, best at the small park on the southwest corner where the Homage to King public artwork stands.
- The motorcade will then travel down Boulevard, then turn right to head west on Auburn Avenue, passing the King Center, Ebenezer Baptist Church, the national headquarters of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and John Wesley Dobbs Plaza. It will continue under I-75/85 and then pass the John Lewis "HERO" mural at the intersection of Auburn Avenue and Jesse Hill, Jr. Drive.
- It will then continue up Auburn Avenue before turning left and traveling south onto Peachtree Street, passing around Woodruff Park. There's lots of sidewalk space in the approach to watch from. Once on Peachtree, they will pass Peachtree Fountains Plaza.
- Plans for the final approach are not directly outlined, though it's likely they will turn left off Peachtree onto Mitchell Street, to go a short ways to the capitol building.
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