7:12 AM: Good morning East Cobb! It’s the last day of summer—fall officially kicks in around 4 p.m. today, although it won’t feel like it, with high temperatures once again in the high 80s, and high humidity to boot.
Here’s a quick look at some key traffic points this morning as the commuting hours get underway. Thus far no major accidents to report on local roads in East Cobb, although there is a minor accident which is being reported on Roswell Road near the 120 Loop.
For the most part, though, the East Cobb area—as we’re typing this anyway—is relatively clear as daybreak sets in. There are the usual jams and bottlenecks appearing along key Interstate 75 junctions, and an accident also is just now being reported via Waze on I-75 southbound near Windy Hill Road.
The photos are screenshots of key East Cobb intersections from the Georgia 511 site (and area map as we have it now):
Old Canton at Roswell RoadPowers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill RoadRoswell Road at East Piedmont RoadSandy Plains Road at Shallowford RoadCanton Road at Shallowford Road
Unicyclists from Mt. Bethel Elementary School are a regular part of the East Cobber parade. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
The one Saturday out of the year in which you can actually see unicyclists pedaling down Johnson Ferry Road is this Saturday. That means it’s time for the East Cobber parade, which begins at 10 a.m. and includes some significant closures along one of East Cobb’s busiest traffic arteries.
If you’ve experienced this before, the schedule is familiar, and remains essentially the same. Cobb Police will be shutting down Johnson Ferry Road between Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road between 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
There may be some changes to this, in terms of time and precise closure points. Sometimes you can drive all the way to Princeton Lakes Drive, where the parade route begins, out of Mt. Bethel Elementary School, up until around 9:45 a.m.
It’s best to observe the 9:30-11 window, and the Roswell-Lower Roswell boundaries, especially to give yourself time to find parking and a vantage point, and in case there are any logistical changes.
Woodlawn Drive will remain open, and is a good route to find a place to watch the parade—the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church parking lot will be available—but expect delays due to the closures.
Princeton Lakes Drive will be closed entirely from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday as the parade route assembles at Mt. Bethel Elementary School and heads south on Johnson Ferry Road.
Cobb DOT also is setting up detours at the following intersections, and these too have been done in previous years:
Intersection of Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway;
Intersection of Lower Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway;
Intersection of Roswell Road and Timber Ridge Road;
Intersection of Lower Roswell Road and Timber Ridge Road.
If you can’t get to the parade but want to watch, it’s being streamed live on East Cobber‘s Facebook page (link here) and Instagram account (link here).
The festival begins at 11 a.m. in the Johnson Ferry Baptist parking lot near the athletic fields. Here’s a full list of parade and festival participants. Here’s more on this weekend’s events in East Cobb.
The intersection of Riverside Drive and Heards Ferry Road is one of several traffic closures in Sandy Springs. Click to view larger map.
For East Cobb commuters who use Riverside Drive in Sandy Springs to get to Interstate 285 and beyond, you’ll have to find another route, at least for another day or two. That’s because of downed power lines and trees caused by Tropical Storm Irma.
This morning the City of Sandy Springs issued a notice saying that the intersection of Riverside Drive and Heards Ferry Road—the last major intersection south of I-285—remains closed, and that eight Georgia Power trucks will be needed to make repairs. Seven power poles were damaged in the storm at that juncture.
More details here about that closure and others in Sandy Springs that may affect your commute:
“Public Works is setting up variable message signs (VMS’s) in advance to alert drivers. We are alerting motorists at Johnson Ferry Rd/Riverside Dr and Johnson Ferry Rd/River Valley Rd that Riverside Dr is closed. We are also placing a VMS at the Riverside Dr and I-285 westbound roundabout alerting motorists that Riverside is closed. On Heards Ferry Rd, VMS’s will be placed at Raider Dr west of Riverside Dr and Mount Vernon Hwy east of Riverside Dr alerting motorists that Heards Ferry Rd is closed.”
Here’s the full link to what’s being distributed today by Sandy Springs, including a full list of road closures (and they had quite a few).
