Georgia · Southwest Fulton County · Traffic Alert
I-285 Fully Closed Aug. 28–31 Between Langford Parkway (Exit 5) and Cascade Road (Exit 7) in Southwest Fulton County, GA
The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to take out every northbound and southbound lane on this stretch of the Perimeter from Friday evening to early Monday for the I-285 Westside Rebuild. It is scheduled construction, not an accident.
Key facts
- What
- A full closure of I-285, northbound and southbound — scheduled roadwork, not an accident and not an emergency
- Where
- From Exit 5 (SR 166 / Langford Parkway) up to Exit 7 (Cascade Road), southwest Fulton County, Georgia
- When
- 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 to 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2026
- Detour named by GDOT
- SR 166 / Langford Parkway, I-20 and the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector
- Why
- The $206 million I-285 Westside Rebuild — replacing aging concrete pavement
- Project size
- 10 miles, South Fulton Parkway in College Park to Collier Road, across Fulton and Cobb counties, finishing 2028
- Next after this
- Sept. 11–14 and Sept. 25–27 — 95.5 WSB Radio reports the contractor is tentatively planning them
- Can it move?
- Yes — GDOT says weather can postpone the work
- Agency
- Georgia Department of Transportation
- Announced
- Reported by 95.5 WSB Radio on Aug. 17 and FOX 5 Atlanta on Aug. 18, 2026
- Is I-285 closed Aug. 28–31 in southwest Fulton County?
- Where exactly on I-285 is the closure, between which exits?
- Which detour routes did GDOT name for the I-285 closure?
- Is this the same I-285 closure as the Cascade Road to MLK Jr. Drive weekend?
- Why is I-285 closing between Langford Parkway and Cascade Road?
- Are more full I-285 closures planned for September?
- Can the I-285 closure be postponed for weather?
- What we don’t know yet
- Update log
- Frequently asked questions
Is I-285 closed Aug. 28–31 in southwest Fulton County?
Yes — as planned roadwork. The Georgia Department of Transportation intends to take every lane out of service, in both directions, on the piece of I-285 that runs from Exit 5 at SR 166 / Langford Parkway up to Exit 7 at Cascade Road in southwest Fulton County, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
The window runs from 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 to 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.
No accident, injury or emergency response is involved.
On the timeline: this is not an announcement that broke within the last hour. 95.5 WSB Radio carried it at 4:02 p.m. ET on Aug. 17, and FOX 5 Atlanta published at 3:11 p.m. ET on Aug. 18. What makes it live news is that the closure itself is still ten days out.
Two independent parent companies stand behind our record of this closure: FOX 5 Atlanta, owned by Fox Television Stations, and 95.5 WSB Radio, owned by Cox Media Group. WSB-TV and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are Cox properties too, so anything they publish counts alongside WSB Radio rather than as a separate third voice.
Where exactly on I-285 is the closure, between which exits?
The closed stretch sits on the southwest arc of the Perimeter, inside Fulton County, bracketed by Exit 5 at SR 166 / Langford Parkway and Exit 7 at Cascade Road.
95.5 WSB Radio described the same shutdown as covering all lanes of I-285 on the westside of the Perimeter, running between Cascade Road and Langford Parkway. The exit numbers and the exact hours came from FOX 5 Atlanta only — the WSB Radio report named the weekend and the two cross streets but gave no start or end time.
| Direction | Closed between | Closure begins | Scheduled reopening | Detour routes named by GDOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I-285 northbound | SR 166 / Langford Parkway (Exit 5) to Cascade Road (Exit 7) | 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 | 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 | SR 166 / Langford Parkway, I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector, I-20 |
| I-285 southbound | SR 166 / Langford Parkway (Exit 5) to Cascade Road (Exit 7) | 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 | 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 | SR 166 / Langford Parkway, I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector, I-20 |
Dates, times and exit numbers as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. GDOT named one set of detour routes rather than a separate route per direction.
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Ask what a police report actually establishes, what an adjuster is allowed to ask, and how long you have to act.
Which detour routes did GDOT name for the I-285 closure?
GDOT pointed drivers to three roads: SR 166, signed as Langford Parkway; I-20; and the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
That is the department’s own list. We report it and stop there — The Local Alert does not write its own route suggestions.
Note the wrinkle: SR 166 / Langford Parkway is both an endpoint of the closure and a named detour route. It is the interstate between Exit 5 and Exit 7 that goes away.
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that drivers should reduce speed through work areas and pay attention to message boards and signage.
Schematic, not to scale and not a map. It shows which two exits bracket the closed segment and which roads GDOT named as the detour. Exit 9 is drawn in grey because it belongs to a different, earlier closure.
Is this the same I-285 closure as the Cascade Road to MLK Jr. Drive weekend?
No, and this is the easiest thing on the page to get wrong.
The earlier closure we covered was set for Aug. 14–17, 2026 and ran between Cascade Road (Exit 7) and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (Exit 9).
The one on this page is Aug. 28–31 and runs from Cascade Road the opposite way, down to SR 166 / Langford Parkway (Exit 5).
Cascade Road is the only thing the two closures share. Different exits, different weekend, different pavement.
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Why is I-285 closing between Langford Parkway and Cascade Road?
The work belongs to the I-285 Westside Rebuild, a $206 million project to replace aging concrete pavement, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
The station puts the project at 10 miles, stretching from South Fulton Parkway in College Park to Collier Road, crossing Fulton and Cobb counties, with the whole job set to wrap in 2028.
GDOT publishes project material on dot.ga.gov.
Are more full I-285 closures planned for September?
Two more weekends are on the board — Sept. 11–14 and Sept. 25–27 — and the two newsrooms describe them differently.
FOX 5 Atlanta wrote that full lane closures “are coming in September, including Sept. 11-14 and Sept. 25-27.” 95.5 WSB Radio wrote that the contractor is “tentatively planning” those two additional full closures.
We use the more cautious of the two. Treat the September dates as tentative, not fixed. Neither outlet published hours, a segment or a detour for either September weekend.
Timeline of the weekend closures on our record for this project. The two September weekends are drawn dashed because they are described as tentative.
Can the I-285 closure be postponed for weather?
Yes. Both outlets reported that GDOT can push the work back if the weather does not cooperate.
FOX 5 Atlanta added a weather note, writing on Aug. 18 that scattered afternoon showers were possible around metro Atlanta “this weekend.” Published on a Tuesday, that phrase is ambiguous — it may refer to the coming weekend of Aug. 21–23 rather than the closure weekend of Aug. 28–31. We flag it rather than resolve it.
Neither outlet said when the go or no-go decision gets made, or who makes it. For live road status, the state runs 511 Georgia.
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Ask what a police report actually establishes, what an adjuster is allowed to ask, and how long you have to act.
What we don’t know yet
- Whether the closure runs as scheduled — GDOT says weather can postpone it
- Which ramps at Exit 5 and Exit 7 close with the mainline, and when they go down
- What the specific work is on this segment — neither outlet described the operation beyond the pavement-replacement project it belongs to
- How much time the detour adds. No delay estimate, added-mileage figure or traffic count for this stretch of I-285 has been published, and we will not estimate one
- Which segments the Sept. 11–14 and Sept. 25–27 weekends would cover, and what hours they would run
- Whether commercial vehicles face any restriction on the detour roads
- Whether the closure could lift early if crews finish ahead of the 5 a.m. Monday target
Update log
- Aug. 18, 2026, 4:15 pm ET — Page published. Closure dates, hours, exit numbers and detour routes from FOX 5 Atlanta (published 3:11 p.m. ET Aug. 18); weekend, segment and the tentative September closures from 95.5 WSB Radio (published 4:02 p.m. ET Aug. 17).
Frequently asked questions
Is I-285 closed the weekend of Aug. 28-31, 2026?
Yes, as planned roadwork. GDOT intends to take every lane out of service in both directions on the piece of I-285 that runs from Exit 5 at SR 166 / Langford Parkway up to Exit 7 at Cascade Road, starting at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 and lasting until 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. No accident, injury or emergency is involved.
What time does the I-285 closure begin and end?
It begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 and is set to lift at 5 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Those hours came from FOX 5 Atlanta only. The 95.5 WSB Radio report gave the weekend but no start or end time.
Which exits bracket the closed stretch of I-285 in southwest Fulton County?
Exit 5, SR 166 / Langford Parkway, and Exit 7, Cascade Road. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that every lane of I-285 between those two exits, in both directions, is due to close for the weekend.
Which detour routes did GDOT name for the I-285 closure?
SR 166 / Langford Parkway, I-20 and the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Those are the roads the department itself named. The Local Alert reports them and does not add route advice of its own.
Is this the same I-285 closure as the Cascade Road to MLK Jr. Drive weekend?
No. That one was set for Aug. 14-17, 2026 and covered I-285 between Cascade Road, Exit 7, and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Exit 9. This closure runs the other way from Cascade Road, south to Langford Parkway at Exit 5, on a later weekend. Cascade Road is the only point the two segments have in common.
Why is GDOT closing I-285 between Langford Parkway and Cascade Road?
For the I-285 Westside Rebuild, a $206 million effort to swap out aging concrete pavement, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. The station put the project at 10 miles, running from South Fulton Parkway in College Park to Collier Road, crossing Fulton and Cobb counties, with the full job due to finish in 2028.
Are more full I-285 closures planned in September 2026?
Two more weekends are on the table: Sept. 11-14 and Sept. 25-27. The two newsrooms word it differently. FOX 5 Atlanta wrote that full lane closures are coming in September on those dates, while 95.5 WSB Radio reported that the contractor is tentatively planning them. The Local Alert treats the September dates as tentative, not fixed.
Can the Aug. 28-31 I-285 closure be postponed?
Yes. FOX 5 Atlanta and 95.5 WSB Radio both reported that GDOT can push the work back if the weather does not hold. Neither outlet published a decision deadline or said who makes the call.
How much extra driving time will the I-285 detour add?
Nobody has published that. Neither outlet carried a delay estimate, an added-mileage figure or a traffic count for this stretch of I-285, and The Local Alert does not publish numbers it cannot trace to a named source. For live road status, 511 Georgia is the state traveler information service.
Do the ramps at Exit 5 and Exit 7 close with the I-285 mainline?
Unstated. Neither FOX 5 Atlanta nor 95.5 WSB Radio listed which individual ramps at SR 166 / Langford Parkway and Cascade Road go down with the mainline, and no ramp-by-ramp breakdown has been published in our record of this closure.
How many independent newsrooms have reported the I-285 Aug. 28-31 closure?
Two independent parent companies stand behind our record of it. FOX 5 Atlanta belongs to Fox Television Stations, and 95.5 WSB Radio belongs to Cox Media Group. WSB-TV and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution share that same Cox ownership, so coverage from them would not amount to a third independent voice.
Sources
- FOX 5 Atlanta — Major I-285 shutdown planned between Cascade Road and Langford Parkway (Fox Television Stations, published Aug. 18, 2026)
- 95.5 WSB Radio — Full I-285 closure planned for metro Atlanta next weekend (Cox Media Group, published Aug. 17, 2026)
- Georgia Department of Transportation — the agency behind the closure and the I-285 Westside Rebuild
- 511 Georgia — statewide live traveler information
- Georgia Department of Public Safety — state patrol and highway enforcement
Compiled by The Local Alert Georgia Staff from the two named news outlets linked above, both of which attribute the closure to the Georgia Department of Transportation. This is a planned construction closure. No accident, injury, death, arrest or emergency is involved. GDOT says weather can postpone the work, so a closure like this one can move, shorten or lift early — use a live source for the actual state of the road. Where only one outlet stands behind a detail, we say which one. Corrections and removal requests: see our corrections policy.
Related Georgia coverage
Other closures and incidents we are tracking across the state this week.
The earlier I-285 closure: Cascade Road to MLK Jr. Drive, Aug. 14–17
I-85 southbound lanes closed at Metropolitan Parkway after a pedestrian accident
I-75 southbound lane closures in Monroe County, Aug. 21–31
I-75 South lane closed at mile marker 166 in Macon for emergency roadwork
SR 316 overnight lane closures at Jimmy Daniell Road
More from Fulton County
Reported and fact-checked as of .
Both sources linked here were opened and verified at that time. The Local Alert compiles what each named outlet reported and shows you which outlet reported what — and where only one outlet stands behind a fact in our record, we say so. This page describes an advisory published ahead of the weekend of Aug. 28, 2026. It is not updated automatically, and GDOT says the work can be postponed for weather. For the actual state of the road, use a live traffic source, the electronic message boards on the corridor, or GDOT.
See something wrong here?
We report from named outlets and public records, and every fact here is linked to its source. If something is inaccurate — a name, a road, an agency, a number — tell us and we will correct it and note the correction.