After outcry from businesses, crews working 24/7 to repave Cascade Road
Why it matters: Cascade Road is a major thoroughfare on Atlanta's west side, and entrepreneurs say the ongoing road closures required for the project make it difficult for them to maintain customers and their bottom lines.
The latest: The around-the-clock resurfacing work, which started Monday, will take place along Cascade between Wills Mill Road and Kingsdale Drive, Atlanta DOT said Monday on X.
Weather permitting, two crews are working 12-hour shifts to repave roughly one mile of Cascade Road, with work anticipated to be done by Aug. 25, DOT Commissioner Solomon Caviness told Axios.
While the city said the roadway will remain open, drivers can expect some traffic delays, along with noise and light disruptions from nighttime work.
What they're saying: The 24/7 schedule will allow Atlanta to remove the detour on the western end of the project area that's drawn the the ire of business owners and residents, Caviness told Axios.
"We consider Cascade to be the heart and soul of Southwest Atlanta, and we're excited to finally bring this project to a close and support our local businesses and the local economy," Caviness said.
Context: The new schedule comes after weeks of criticism from Cascade Heights business owners and residents, several of whom voiced their concerns at the Aug. 4 City Council meeting.
Trinket Lewis, owner of MoreLyfe Juice Co., said when she opened in 2022, her juice shop was averaging more than 900 orders a month. Now, the business is down to around 380 a month.
"It's killing MoreLyfe, it's killing the Cascade business district and no one has been held accountable," Lewis said.
State of play: A Change.org petition has been created, calling on the city to establish an economic recovery fund similar to one that was approved following the 2024 water outage crisis.
City Council member Marci Collier Overstreet told Axios she intends to introduce legislation authorizing a fund as early as Monday's City Council meeting.
"They are afraid that their business will not return to pre-construction numbers, and so they need help to make sure that everyone will come back," she said, referring to her constituents.
Catch up quick: The $33 million Cascade Road Complete Street project began in spring 2022 and installed improvements along a roughly two-mile stretch, including resurfacing and restriping the road, adding sidewalks and bike lanes and upgrading traffic signals.
The city also minimized the width of the travel lanes and reduced the speed limit to 25 miles per hour to get vehicles to slow down, Caviness told Axios.
What we're watching: Once the resurfacing work is done, the city will tackle "punch list" items like electrical work, lighting improvements and signage, Caviness said.
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