ATLANTA — Drivers and businesses are relieved after a months-long construction project had a busy Atlanta road shut down.
Part of Cheshire Bridge Road reopened Monday at noon with one northbound and one southbound lane, along with a pedestrian walkway.
Mayor Andre Dickens was the first to drive across the bridge. The mayor noting that the closure has been tough, said that "being able to have two lanes of traffic will hopefully provide that relief.”
The road had been closed as they had to reconstruct the bridge over Peachtree Creek after a fire damaged it in August of 2021.
Business owners struggled to make ends meet with the construction impacting the lack of traffic. Some said they've experience more than a 30% revenue loss during the closure.
"It's been frustrating, our lunch business has been pretty impacted," the owner of Taqueria Del Sol Stephen Shields said.
The mayor says that the bridge is expected to fully re-open by February of 2023.
11Alive received a copy of the construction contract from the city showing the price tag for construction is $6,967,800.
The contractor, though, will be charged $1,000 per day for each day the project is late. There is also a $1,000 incentive for each day the project is completed early.