Brace yourselves, Atlanta drivers: road work is on the horizon. Starting May 6, stretches of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive SW will be hit with intermittent lane closures to make way for crucial sidewalk repairs and ADA ramp upgrades, a project managed by the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT). This construction ballet will pirouette from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and it won’t take its final bow until January 2025, according to the City of Atlanta's traffic advisory.

The dance of cones and signs will waltz along various portions of MLK Drive, from Ollie Street NW to Delmar Lane NW—specifically segments between Ollie Street NW to Mathewson Place SW, Mathewson Place SW to Racine Street SW, Racine Street SW to West Lake Avenue NW, Larchwood Road SW to Barfield Avenue SW, Harwell Road NW to Delmar Lane NW. While the main thoroughfare will stay open throughout the project duration traffic could move as slow as molasses as control personnel work on scene to usher commuters through the construction zone.

Locals itching for details or eager to vent can zap their questions or air their gripes to the ATLDOT by firing off an email to [email protected], so say officials in a statement on the department's website. Detailed information about the closures and the impacted streets can be snagged on the agency's traffic advisory page. Patience is a virtue the city is asking of its citizens, with the promise of safer, smoother walks and wheelings down one of its busiest corridors.

Ready or not, commuters will need to navigate a new daily routine as these updates to MLK Drive’s aging infrastructure take shape; this development project mirrors the city's broader commitment to accessibility and pedestrian safety. In the meantime, Atlanta's drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are advised to factor in some extra time for their travels or seek out alternative routes that might make the journey less of a headache—it might just save them from the rush hour blues.