Ga. DOT Ready For Busy Holiday Weekend

The Georgia Department of Transportation is preparing for a busy weekend on the state’s highways.

AAA is projecting that more than 2.7 million Georgians will travel 50 miles or more by car between now and the start of 2017.

That is an increase of 2.4 percent from last year.

With that in mind, Georgia DOT Spokesperson Katie Strickland said the agency will do its best to clear the highways of road work to help open up travel across the state.

“With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday this year, the Georgia Department of Transportation anticipates more travelers than usual during the days prior to Christmas and after the holiday,” said Strickland. “We are going to give you an early Christmas present and suspend construction-related lane closures on all interstates and major state routes from 5 a.m. Friday, December 23 through 10 p.m. Monday, December 26.”

Strickland did say that incident management or emergency maintenance-related lane closures could become necessary on any route.

As a result, she said people should buckle up, drive carefully, avoid texting and driving, and in general, drive alert.

Meanwhile, the DOT said that for updated information about travel conditions on Georgia’s interstates and state routes, travelers should call 511 before getting on the road.

Georgia 511 is a free phone service that provides real-time traffic and travel information statewide, including traffic conditions, incidents, lane closures, and delays.

In addition, callers can transfer to operators to request assistance or report incidents 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

511 is also available online at www.511ga.org or through the free 511 Georgia app for Apple and Android devices.