SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — The Georgia Department of Transportation shut down a lane Saturday in the area of Interstate 285 and Georgia 400 where traffic is already bottlenecked.
GDOT plans to have one lane of I-285 westbound closed between Roswell Road and Ashford Dunwoody Road for at least eight months. Construction in the same area along I-285 eastbound started two weeks ago.
11Alive crews saw heavy traffic in both directions Saturday afternoon. GDOT is asking people not to drive along the Perimeter unless it's completely necessary. That's something a small business owner, who's been in the area for more than a decade, knows all too well.
Daniel Saleh knows all about Atlanta traffic. The co-owner of Gyro Bros and even his customers now have even more traffic to deal with.
“We’ve been here for over 10 years, and Roswell Road has always been a zoo," Saleh said. “We’re excited for traffic to get back to normal."
“We’re excited for traffic to get back to normal," Saleh said.
A normal traffic pattern won't happen anytime soon.
GDOT reports your commute time could more than triple if you drive along the Perimeter.
“I hear this is one of the worst intersections of highways in the country," Saleh said. "It’s exciting to not have to deal with that in the future, but obviously in the meantime, it’s a little bit of a stress getting to and from work.”
Saleh, an eternal optimist, still tries to find the silver lining of an annoying situation.
“Most of our business is through the drive through, and a lot of our customers are the construction works that come over here too, and they’re always good guys," Saleh said.
The project isn't expected to be completed until June 2023 at the earliest.
“I mean, the sooner the better," William Walker said.
William Walker works next door to Daniel in another local business also being impacted by the ongoing construction. He said that although he has to change his routine, there's no need to grumble.
“I have to leave early, maybe 15 minutes prior, but I can’t complain at all," Walker said. "I have to get to work on time."
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Meantime, Saleh plans on continuing to feed the construction workers in the coming months and remain patient for the end result.
“It’s cool to see taxpayer dollars go to something so pretty and something that I’ll use every day," Saleh said. "Obviously, it’s going to be a pain in the meantime.”
Saleh said the extra driving time does leave him less time to spend with his wife and dog, a 10-year-old rescue beagle, but he knows his commute will be even smoother once all the construction is done.