The Georgia Department of Transportation will scale back its construction projects across Northwest Georgia – suspending construction-related lane closures on all interstate and major state system highways through Sunday to ease the 4th of July holiday traffic congestion. Beginning at 5 a.m., Saturday, June 30, and continuing until 5 a.m., Monday, July 9, 2012, there essentially will be no scheduled lane closures on any Northwest Georgia interstate highway or primary state route, according to the DOT press release.

“We hope this break in construction work will allow motorists to get to and from their holiday destinations with less congestion and less aggravation,” said DeWayne Comer, district engineer at the DOT office in Cartersville. “We understand that a lot of people are hitting the road for the Independence Day holiday and we would like to make it a little easier for them to go through Northwest Georgia.”

DOT noted that some work may continue on lesser-traveled state and local system roads and that incident or emergency maintenance-related lane closures could become necessary on any route.

Georgia DOT urges travelers to call 511 for updated information about this maintenance operation or any other construction project on interstates and state routes. Georgia 511 is a free phone service that provides real-time traffic and travel information statewide, such as traffic conditions, incidents, lane closures, and delays due to inclement weather. Callers also can transfer to operators to request assistance or report incidents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More information is available at www.511ga.org. For information on the Department of Transportation, visit (www.dot.ga.gov).