Contraflow lanes will open Saturday to help people evacuating their homes in Coastal Georgia

DUBLIN, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT) – Contraflow lanes, or flipped lanes, will open on 1-16 East on Saturday.

Traffic that normally goes east, will not flow west, meaning there will be four lanes traveling west on I-16.

Kyle Collins, District Communication Specialist for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) said lanes are changing direction to help people evacuate faster from the coastal Georgia area.

The flip will happen on Saturday morning.

“Typically two to three hours, I think is a safe bet to get it started, get it shut down and get it flipped from Savannah back toward Macon,” Collins said.

He said he is unsure of how long the contraflow will last.

“It could last a day, maybe two. It just depends on the evacuation progress and also severity and timing of when the storms hits,” Collins said.

The contraflow will begin in Savannah and continue on for about 125 miles. The contraflow will end at mile marker 39.

“It will start to transition back to normal operations and we will cross traffic back over to two eastbound, two westbound, with normal traffic flow heading back into Macon,” Collins continued.

While using the contraflow lane people will be able to get off at designated exits on the eastbound lane, while going west. This will allow people to get items like gas or food.

People can get off at exits:

• Exit 143 @ SR 30 / US 280
• Exit 116 @ SR 73 / US 301
• Exit 104 @SR 23 / SR 121
• Exit 90 @ SR 4 / US 1
• Exit 71 @SR 15 / SR 78
• Exit 67 @ SR 29
• Exit 51 @ SR 31 / US 319 / US 441

Collins said if you travel on I-16 this weekend, be prepared for delays.

“Be patient. There’s gonna be some slow downs if you choose to travel I-16 to get out of the Savannah and coastal areas,” he said.

So if you travel this weekend, make plans so you can avoid traffic.