The Georgia Department of Transportion (GDOT) is warning driver to expect several months worth of heavy traffic delays due to lane closures on a busy interstate in the metro Atlanta area.

Starting on Saturday, October 8, GDOT will close one lane of I-285 eastbound between Roswell Road and Ashford Dunwoody Road for a bridge construction project.

Approximately one week later, GDOT will close a lane of westbound I-285 in the same area for the bridge project.

GDOT says that the lane closures will last “at least eight months” and are expected to result in “extreme delays around and approaching the work zone.” GDOT recommends that drivers add an extra hour or more to their planned drive time if they are passing through the area.

However, GDOT says that new connecting lanes may help ease the traffic nightmare.

“The traveling public should utilize the new connecting lanes as much as possible to get to their local destinations,” Georgia DOT Alternative Delivery Program Manager Marlo Clowers, P.E., said. “While over 240,000 vehicles move through this part of I-285 each day, many drivers are headed to local destinations. The new connecting lanes facilitate easier and hopefully faster trips for those drivers and should help move people around the profound delays we anticipate on I-285.”

GDOT outlined the two phases of the bridge construction project:

• Phase 1: Inside lanes will close on I-285 in each direction between Roswell Road to Ashford Dunwoody Road, so crews can reconstruct the interior portions of the I-285 bridges over Glenridge Drive, SR 400, and Peachtree Dunwoody Road. This phase will take approximately four months.
• Phase 2: Traffic will shift to the inside lanes and the existing outside lanes will close to traffic so crews can demolish and reconstruct the exterior portions of the bridges. This phase will take approximately four months.

See the video below for more on the I-285 lane closures.