ATLANTA — A new westbound exit on Interstate 285 opened Monday morning.

The new exit opening is part of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s ongoing I-285/Georgia 400 interchange project.

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Channel 2′s Michele Newell tells us that the exit is meant to save time; however, some drivers find it confusing.

It’s one of the biggest projects that we’ve seen in the metro area.

“It seems like it’s been going on for years,” driver lani Donovitz said.

Natalie Dale, Georgia Department of Transportation spokesperson , says that this has become a tedious project and people are ready to see the benefits.

Drivers could see the benefits of the ongoing I-285 and Georgia 400 interchange project starting in early 2023. That’s when GDOT says the $803 million project should be complete.

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It’s probably one of the most congested and well-traveled intersections in the Southeast, if not the nation,” Dale said. “We are going to cut down on accidents because people won’t have to make those sort of dramatic exits to get where they’re going.”

“There’s always horrible traffic. We get mixed up on the exits all the time because things are closed,” Donovitz said.

Early Monday morning, we were there as GDOT opened a new westbound exit 285 to ease the flow of traffic.

Traffic was at a standstill because of a late start. The new ramp starts near Ashford Dunwoody road.

The left lane will take you to 400. The right lane will take you to Peachtree Dunwoody Road.

The old ramp is closed for good.

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Below is the new map that shows you how to access the new traffic pattern.

GDOT says the original cost of this project was estimated at $1.1 billion. They were able to get that number down and saved about 300 million.

The new ramp will start at Ashford Dunwoody.

The left lanes of the exit will take you to SR 400 north and south. The right lanes will take you to Peachtree Dunwoody Road.

GDOT said about 400,000 vehicles pass through the interchange every day.

The interchange project was designed to improve traffic flow on I-285 and Georgia 400.

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