ATLANTA — The weekend full closure on the westside Perimeter did not hand the Monday commute a clean 5 a.m. handoff.
WSB-TV reported early Monday, Aug. 17, that all lanes of Interstate 285 in southwest Atlanta remain shut down as part of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s ongoing Westside Rebuild Project.
What was supposed to reopen — and what changed
According to WSB’s Triple Team Traffic package, GDOT closed both northbound and southbound lanes for a two-mile stretch between the Cascade Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive exits beginning Friday night. Lanes were scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. Monday.
Traffic Tracker 2 cameras still showed work underway past that target, WSB reports. GDOT told Channel 2’s Mike Shields the agency is aiming to reopen the lanes by 7 a.m.
That two-hour slip is the entire story for morning drivers: the published reopen window moved, not the project’s purpose.
Detours still in play
WSB’s detour guidance matches the weekend pattern:
- Southbound: I-20 east to the downtown connector, then Langford Parkway back to I-285.
- Northbound: Langford Parkway to the downtown connector, then I-20 west back to I-285.
Until GDOT confirms both directions are open between Cascade and MLK, treat the segment as offline and budget for the I-20 / Langford loop — especially with heat already stacking another advisory day on top of construction delays.
Context from the same rebuild
The same Cascade–MLK window was flagged over the weekend by local desks as part of a multi-year GDOT rehabilitation on aging concrete. Monday’s WSB update does not rewrite the project scope; it documents a missed reopen clock and a new 7 a.m. target.
For anyone who planned a 5 a.m. “it should be open” drive, the operational rule is simple: check live cameras and GDOT messaging before committing to the westside Perimeter, and keep the published detours ready.
Primary sources: WSB-TV — I-285 reopening delayed Monday.
