Be ready to take alternate routes near Ponce City Market this weekend as a stretch of Ponce de Leon Avenue between Ponce de Leon Place and the Midtown Place shopping center being closed Friday at 9 p.m. through Monday March 26 at 5 a.m.

The same portion of Ponce will be closed to traffic March 30 through April 1, too, as the Ponce de Leon Bridge is being remediated, retrofitted and repainted as part of the Atlanta BeltLine's Eastside Trail construction. All of the shops at Midtown Place will be open and accessible during this road closure.

While the bridge is raised, crews will install decking and scaffolding to protect cars and pedestrians, remove old paint, prime the metal, and repaint it. The bridge will then be fitted with unobtrusive security fencing as required by the Georgia DOT. Additional weekend closures can be expected to lower the bridge and complete construction of the Eastside Trail. Public notification will occur several weeks before construction.

A stretch of Ralph McGill Boulevard between Freedom Parkway and Ashley Avenue (near Copenhill Lofts, Freedom Heights Lofts and Block Lofts), has been closed for about three weeks and will reamin so approximately another 10 days while a new bridge over Ralph McGill Blvd. is being installed next to the old bridge that previously carried freight rail. When work is concluded on these two critical bridges, the projected completion date for the Eastside Trail from 10th Street and Monroe Drive to Irwin Street and Lake Avenue is slated for this summer.

The Eastside Trail is the next major component of the Atlanta BeltLine slated to open to the public. This project includes a 14-foot wide multi-use concrete trail for walking, running, biking and skating, as well as a significant amount of underground infrastructure to accommodate current and future utilities. It also includes retaining walls, landscaping and the preservation of right of way for the transit system that will be built in the future.

The Eastside Trail is the first part of the trail system to be built within the old rail corridor, which will eventually connect 45 neighborhoods. For more information, please visit eastsidetrail.beltline.org for updates.