MARIETTA, GA - Portions of a retaining wall alongside an unfinished section of the I-75 reversible Express Lanes near Windy Hill Road collapsed onto the roadway at some point late Friday night or early Saturday morning, according to officials with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The unfinished roadway is still under construction and is not being used by the public, so no vehicles were on the highway and no delays were expected.
Natalie Dale with GDOT said in a release that the sections that collapsed were "fascia panels" that were part of an aesthetic covering over the retaining wall.
Dale said the sections that collapsed did not provide any sort of structural support to the wall.
"These decorative fascia panels detached from the face of the wall," she said. "Of note, this is not a wall failure but a fascia panel issue. The retaining wall remains intact."
Dale said the cause of the detachment is under investigation and it is not known at this point why they fell off of the wall.
She said the project's developer, Northwest Express Roadbuilders, its Engineer of Record and GDOT officials are meeting to determine an appropriate path forward for a resolution to the matter and a repair timeframe.
Dale did not have any immediate word regarding what sort of delay this may add to the opening of the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes project, which was originally slated to open later this summer.
The project was designed to help relieve traffic along I-75 and I-575, by providing reversible toll express lanes that run southbound during the morning rush hours and northbound during the afternoon rush.
Motorists using the lanes would use the same type of Peach Pass transponders used by drivers in Peach Pass lanes on I-85 in Gwinnett County and on I-75 to the south of Atlanta.
