Georgia DOT To Suspend Lane Closures For Christmas

If you're planning to travel in Georgia for Christmas, at least you won't have major road construction to deal with on your way.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is helping clear a path for motorists by lifting all lane closures over the Christmas and New Year's travel periods.

GDOT announced Tuesday that all scheduled and ongoing construction-related closures in northwest Georgia would be suspended beginning at 5 a.m. on Friday, December 23.

The suspension will continue until 10 p.m. on Monday, December 26.

Road closures will again be waived starting at 5 a.m. on Saturday, December 31 and continuing until Monday, January 2.

"We know that a lot of people will be hitting the road for the year-end holiday season and we want to make it a little easier for them to go through northwest Georgia and arrive safely at their destinations," Dewayne Comer, district engineer at the DOT office in Cartersville, said in a news release.

"Georgia DOT is suspending all scheduled lane closures on our interstates and other major state routes. We urge all motorists to do their part to keep one another safe by obeying all traffic laws and being courteous to their fellow travelers. Please drive safely and enjoy the holidays."

Emergency maintenance work in the case of traffic accidents, and other unpredictable types of transportation incidents could still cause lane closures and delays, the DOT says.

Motorists can access real-time, statewide information on accidents, road work, traffic and weather conditions through Georgia 511 — a free phone service and website.

By dialing 511, callers also can transfer to operators 24 hours a day to report incidents or request assistance.

In Georgia, nearly 3 million people are expected to travel during the Christmas holiday period. Of those, about 2.7 million will be doing so by driving, according to AAA.

In all, 103.1 million Americans are expected to make trips of 50 miles or more for the holidays — making this year the busiest holiday travel period on record.

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