For those coming through Atlanta in the next 6 months...Don't.

6 lanes of the busiest interstate in Atlanta collapsed from a fire this evening. Estimated repair time is 6 months.

This will be super fun.

In reply to lnlogauge:

But the real question is can you still get to The Varsity?

Is that the Peachtree overpass?

aircooled wrote: Is that the Peachtree overpass?

LOL very good guess. It's between a few Peachtree roads and streets, at one of the Piedmont roads.

Wouldn't slow the Dukes down if they need to go to hotlanta.

Thankfully, that area is about 8 miles south of the part of I85 that I use in my 60 mile each way commute. With the way traffic flow goes, I "don't think" it will effect me, but we'll find out. Thankfully I work from home every Friday, so I get to sit in my family room today. It's too early to say how long it will take to repair...the fire is still smoldering, they don't know the full extent of damage beyond the collapsed section. Could be a 2 month repair, could be 6 months.

Being in insurance (we do general liability too, not just auto), I can't even imagine how all the behind the scenes stuff is going to play out. Nasty, nasty stuff....years of litigation to follow.

We've been discussing how that will affect our supply chain on raw materials and shipping out our finished goods, even though we're in Warner Robins.

Man I'm glad I'm not in ATL.

In watching news coverage this morning, the traffic mess isn't anywhere near as bad as anticipated. There are ways around this collapse. But we'll see long term how it works out...I'm sure a lot of people stayed home today.

In reply to Klayfish:

according to who? It's 9am, there's not usually that much red....

Both north and southbound needs to be replaced now. There's probably people that stayed home today, but this is going to be bad, for a really, really long time.

This brings new meaning to HOTLANTA.

We have a tradeshow there in a few weeks, will this affect downtown to airport?

pinchvalve wrote: We have a tradeshow there in a few weeks, will this affect downtown to airport?

Flying in to Hartsfield and driving to I assume the world congress center, you shouldn't see any difference. You're sticking with the Southside, and midtown area of Atlanta. This affects anyone, and I mean anyone, on the north half of the city.

Unconfirmed reports have this man sighted in the area with a box of matches:

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

You are evil, but I like it.

So if I was traveling through ATL in the coming weekends, should I just skip it completely? I normally take 285 around it but I am guess it will be a nightmare...

In reply to lnlogauge:

Sorry, guess I'm just not as doomsday about it as you seem to be. Yeah, it's gonna suck. Yeah, it's inconvenient. Don't know how long it'll take to fix, rubble is still smoldering. Certainly won't be open on Monday, but if it's 6 weeks, 18 weeks, 40 weeks, who knows? Watching the news reports on WSB this morning, there is additional traffic, but it didn't seem like it was earth shattering. If you live in this area, you know it's always a mess in rush hour. Definitely worse today, but people will adapt and find other ways around it.

If that was in Northern California, it'd be a three-year repair. In Southern California, they'd have it fixed for Memorial Day weekend.

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

I laughed pretty hard at that.

What caused the fire?

Kreb wrote: If that was in Northern California, it'd be a three-year repair. In Southern California, they'd have it fixed for Memorial Day weekend.

Please explain the estimates you have here?

Advan046 wrote:

Kreb wrote: If that was in Northern California, it'd be a three-year repair. In Southern California, they'd have it fixed for Memorial Day weekend.

Please explain the estimates you have here?

It was a joke. In liberal North California (where I reside), they spend so long trying to hear everyone's input, that I've actually seen federal grants expire and the funds revoked on significant projects. Compare that to the Freeway that collapsed after the Northridge earthquake (Southern California), and they had it replaced in about the time it takes to form an exploratory committee up here.

Don't worry. They'll put a few metal plates over it and have everything open this afternoon.

Yeah this is going to suck. Luckily it's not in between my school and home, but it's really not gonna be fun getting up to Greenville, or anywhere around for a while. That's a lot of bridge both ways to be replaced.

Klayfish wrote: In reply to lnlogauge: Sorry, guess I'm just not as doomsday about it as you seem to be. Yeah, it's gonna suck. Yeah, it's inconvenient. Don't know how long it'll take to fix, rubble is still smoldering. Certainly won't be open on Monday, but if it's 6 weeks, 18 weeks, 40 weeks, who knows? Watching the news reports on WSB this morning, there is additional traffic, but it didn't seem like it was earth shattering. If you live in this area, you know it's always a mess in rush hour. Definitely worse today, but people will adapt and find other ways around it.

DOT has said 6 months. both sides need to be replaced.

As you said. It's always a mess at rush hour. Now remove 12 lanes, at arguably one of the busiest sections in Atlanta. Actually, remove more than that, because it cuts off access to 400, so take out 6 more lanes. Now add those cars to the roads that were already overused. I think today is just the start of how bad it's going to be. People that can stay home today, probably are. they can't do that for months.

2 coworkers drive through that area on their way to work. One added 30 minutes to his commute, one added an hour. It's a big deal.

Advan046 wrote: What caused the fire?

they havent said the source of the flame, but GDOT thought it was a great idea to use that area for their PVC storage. turns out, bad idea.

I don't see why it should take that long. If you remember there was a gas tanker fire on an overpass in the San Fran area a few years ago. I believe they repaired that overpass is less than 45 days. Perhaps there are alternative to using this section of highway vrs the San Fran highway so why rush to repair?