DESCRIPTION: CORRECTION - (date) 090922 - Cobb County - A HERO driver makes an early morning assessment of the flooding I-285. The flooding continued Tuesday September 22, 2009 in the Atlanta metro area as I-285 at the Bolton Road overpass - north by several hundred yards was flooded over both sides of the interstate. Georgia Department of Transportation crews closed 11 bridges and a number of state-controlled roads and highways after Monday's flooding. DOT officials recommended that commuters who didn't need to travel remain home. "If someone is in an area that is experiencing flooding over the past few days, it may be a challenge to commute," spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan. "The challenge that people are going to have are county roads and city roads." Among state thoroughfares, I-285 northbound at Hollowell Parkway and southbound at Cobb Parkway in Cobb County remained closed, because water from the Chattahoochee River was cresting the bridges. Flooding on Sweetwater Creek closed the I-20 eastbound lane between Lee and Thornton roads. The bridge will remain closed until the water recedes, and detours are in place. DOT also closed I-575 just at Highway 92 near the Cobb-Cherokee county line for flooding. DOT officials expect to open the three closed road sometime Tuesday, but Paulk-Buchanan said, in particular, bridges will remain closed so long as water is touching the underside of the bridges. John Spink, jspink@ajc.com

CREDITS: John Spink