Lavista Road reopened to regular traffic at Cheshire Bridge Road on Thursday morning, nearly six months after it closed due to a massive apartment fire.
The busy road was closed Nov. 10 when the Reserve at LaVista Walk was destroyed in a fire. The four-story building was completely burned out after two people set off fireworks on its roof, police said at the time. Atlanta fire Chief Rod Smith said the level of destruction was “a complete anomaly” likely due to the fire beginning on the roof, above the fire alarms and sprinkler system.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
Demolition began in early April after months of delays due to insurance claims and investigations. A contractor previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city of Atlanta had expedited the permits to demolish the building.
Lavista Road’s reopening should help with traffic after a planned closure that will go into effect Friday night on North Druid Hills Road a few miles north. The Georgia Department of Transportation will shut down North Druid Hills Road between Buford Highway and West Druid Hills Road to demolish and reconstruct the bridge over the North Fork of Peachtree Creek. The closure is expected to last three months.
Lavista and North Druid Hills roads intersect in the North Druid Hills neighborhood, and both feed traffic across the interstate highways running centrally through Atlanta. The reopening of Lavista Road will help maintain a link between northern DeKalb County and Atlanta’s northern neighborhoods like Buckhead.
