Several road closures are planned across the city over the next two days ahead of civil rights icon John Lewis’ final return to Atlanta.
The longtime congressman will lie in repose at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s funeral service.
Lewis, 80, died July 17 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He’ll be buried Thursday in Atlanta’s South-View Cemetery following a private service at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Credit: ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM
Credit: ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM
Lewis’ return to Atlanta follows several days of memorial services in his native Alabama and in Washington D.C., where the civil rights great became the first Black lawmaker to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
On Sunday morning, a horse-drawn carriage took Lewis’ body over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., one final time. He and and other voting rights demonstrators were attacked by police as they crossed the bridge 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday.”
Locally, residents have paid tribute by leaving flower bouquets and handwritten notes near a growing memorial at the base of Lewis’ 65-foot mural in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn district.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
On Wednesday, Lewis’ casket will be taken to the Georgia State Capitol Rotunda ahead of a 2 p.m. ceremony. Following the service, Lewis will lie in state from 3-10 p.m.
A private service for the late congressman will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ebenezer Baptist Church, which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led. Following the service, Lewis will be buried at South-View Cemetery on Jonesboro Road in Atlanta.
Several major Atlanta streets will be affected by Lewis’ services over the next two days, police said in a tweet.
Auburn Avenue will be closed to traffic between Boulevard and Jackson Street from 5 p.m. Wednesday until 1 p.m. Thursday. And Jackson Street will be shut down between Auburn Avenue and Irwin Street from 11 p.m. Wednesday until 1 p.m. Thursday, police said.
Additionally, drivers will have limited access to Washington Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Mitchell Street from 1 p.m. until 11 p.m. Wednesday.
On Thursday, drivers in Atlanta should expect delays on Boulevard, Irwin Street, Edgewood Avenue and Jesse Hill Drive between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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