ATLANTA — Back in November, the Georgia Department of Transportation promised the McDonough Boulevard Bridge would be open by December, but as of Monday it is still closed.
The construction has stretched on for nearly three years for the Southeast Atlanta bridge. However, there is a glimmer of hope in the project. On Monday, 11Alive saw crews working on paving the bridge.
Nate Lockett, who lives in the area noticed, too. He explained this is an unusual - but welcome sight for residents like him.
"This is probably the first that I’ve seen crews actually working. Any other time I pass by it’s like – nothing happening really, it’s at a standstill," he said.
Throughout the nearly three years of the bridge's construction, 11Alive has checked in for status updates with GDOT, which told us it would be done by the end of December.
Residents, and even people working in the area, like Alan Schwartzwald, were hopeful back then. We got to speak with Schwartzwald when we went out there in November.
"They’ve built condos down the street in what seems like record time – obviously it’s not the city building the condos but it just shows you if the right number of workers and funding, something can get done," he said.
Construction on the bridge started February 2020. Lockett, who moved to the area before that, said having it closed adds more than 10 minutes to his work commute.
“I think it’s a bit of an inconvenience, taking my normal route to get to work, I have to take detours. But I’m just glad there’s finally some progress," he said.
When we checked back in with GDOT Monday, a spokesperson told 11Alive that severe weather in December caused delays.
Crews were not able to pave the bridge, as originally expected, due to the freezing temperatures and rain. On top of that, paving was paused until Jan. 2 because asphalt plants were closed the week after Christmas.
GDOT now expects the bridge to reopen mid-January, and said there will be intermittent closures afterwards to stripe the road.
If you ask Lockett when he hopes construction will be done, he will tell you, "Yesterday. I hope they finished with it yesterday because it's been so long."
Now, he is looking forward to being able to stop taking detours back home.