ATLANTA — Thursday’s presidential debate is already affecting commuters in the Midtown area, and the most significant impact is coming Thursday.
Police are preparing to divert traffic around CNN studios and Georgia Tech’s campus as Atlanta prepares for the arrivals of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Some parking spots are already off-limits at Tech.
“They let us know yesterday about the parking being closed and the street being closed,” said student Mario Zorrilla. “They let us know ahead of time so we’re able to work our way around it.”
In addition to the debate, there will be a swim meet at Tech’s Campus Recreation Center while the U.S. and Panama face off in the Copa America soccer tournament at Mercedes Benz stadium.
Throughout Thursday, a half-mile stretch of 10th Street from Spring Street to State Street, along with a section of Fowler Street, will close.
It’s Tech student Samuel Jlowacki’s first taste of American politics. Here from France, he’s got a two-wheeled solution to traffic issues.
“I don’t drive,” said Jlowacki while seated on his bike. “So it will be better with no cars, but for drivers, it will be an issue.”
Count on it being an issue on the downtown connector as the hours tick down to Thursday night’s debate. More than once, Atlanta traffic has felt the sting of a Presidential motorcade and the security measures around it. This time, traffic will be impacted by a current and former President traveling to the same place.
Rolling roadblocks that temporarily close interstate entrance ramps and keep traffic clear of the Presidential limo are a typical security measure.
It doesn’t take a president to bring traffic to a halt. In 2012, a visit from Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan did to the downtown connector what typically only a snowstorm can do.