Big traffic jam expected as Braves play at height of afternoon rush hour

Braves baseball may create some traffic headaches Friday afteoon, but delightful weekend weather will make everything all better.

Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton said conditions will be dry for Friday’s Braves-St. Louis wildcard game, with afteoon temperatures in the low 80s.

Saturday will begin mostly sunny, with some clouds in the afteoon and a 20 percent chance of rain Saturday night. Highs will again be in the low 80s.

Sunday will offer some genuine fall weather, with highs only reaching the upper 60s and lows dipping into the 40s Sunday night.

Motorists can expect a big spike in downtown traffic during Friday’s afteoon commute as baseball fans head to Tuer Field.

The game begins just after 5 p.m., and if the Braves win, Game 1 of the National League Division Series would be played on Sunday at Tuer Field. Starting time for that game has not been determined.

Other downtown events this weekend include the Georgia State University-New Hampshire football game at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome and the Hawks-Miami preseason basketball game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Philips Arena.

Edward Williams, of FastSigns of Buckhead, works on some postseason graphics for the Braves dugout railing on Friday.

Philips Arena will also be hosting Bishop T.D. Jakes’ ”Woman Thou Art Loosed conference on Friday and Saturday.

In Midtown, 5th Street will be blocked all weekend for the Taste of Atlanta festival, while the Atlanta Greek Festival, which began on Thursday, will continue through Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation at 2500 Clairmont Road.

Several roads in the Brookhaven and Chamblee areas will be closed Sunday moing for the Allstate Life Insurance Atlanta 13.1 Marathon. The half-marathon starts and ends at the Town Brookhaven complex on Peachtree Road next to Oglethorpe University.

The Atlanta Greek Festival runs Thursday through Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Clairmont Road.

Numerous weekend road construction projects are planned, including the repaving of the top-end Perimeter. Two to three lanes will be blocked in each direction on I-285 between I-75 and Ashford Dunwoody Road, beginning at 9 p.m. Friday and continuing through 5 a.m. Monday.

Also in that area, the ramp from I-285 eastbound to Ga. 400 will be closed from 2 a.m. Saturday through 5 a.m. Sunday. Doug Tubull in the AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center suggests taking Roswell Road to Abeathy Road to get on Ga. 400.

In south Fulton County, traffic on I-85 northbound between Ga. 138 and Old National Highway will be ”paced, or briefly stopped, several times between 7:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

The right lane of I-575 at Sixes Road in Cherokee County will be blocked for construction beginning at 7 p.m. Friday and continuing through 5 a.m. Monday.

All of those road construction projects are weather permitting, and the weather will be more permitting early in the day on Saturday than on Saturday night and Sunday, when a cold front will bring a 20 percent chance of rain.