Georgia eyes June 15 for I-85 reopening

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Updated Apr 6, 2017
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The Georgia Department of Transportation has set an “aggressive but attainable” goal to have Interstate 85 northeast of Atlanta reopened.

In a press conference Tuesday morning, GDOT officials said they plan to have the section of Interstate that collapsed following a fire reopened by June 15, approximately 10 weeks from the collapse. A fire underneath an overpass last Thursday caused the overpass to collapse, closing both lanes of the major corridor.

“At the governor’s urging, we are going to incentivize the completion of this work,” said Georgia DOT Director of Construction Marc Mastronardi. “We have selected a date that we believe is aggressive but attainable and will offer a bonus for early completion.”

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued $10 million in emergency funds to the state to help with the repairs.

Although through trucks are required to use I-285 to go around the city, car traffic is being diverted onto I-285 and other highways as a result of the collapse, causing backups and delays on those roadways.