Please Help, Experienced Atlanta, GA drivers

[JustPlainBill]

My family and I are driving to WDW this summer and our route takes us directly through Atlanta, GA on a Sunday. I've read that there will be heavy road construction on I-75 all summer which could really snarl traffic on the weekends. I don't know Atlanta all that well I've only taken I-75 when travelling through there. I have an alternate route planned that I wish to share and anyone with experience to tell me if it is good or bad. I was planning on taking I-75 down from Chattanooga TN, south to I-285 east around Atlanta then turning south on I-675 returning to I-75 south of Atlanta. Is this route good or is there a better way to bypass downtown Atlanta? The construction is supposed to begin at tenth street and extend south to university street on I-75/I-85. Atlanta traffic is usually bad without road construction so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Disneybird]

I live right above Chattanooga and travel through Atlanta pretty often. We always use the HOV lane which you can use with your family. And Sunday traffic will be easier to maneuver than on a weekday. I never use the bypass because I think it adds time. But I haven't dealt with the construction either.
Atlanta is one of those cities I always dread driving through though.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

If you're going to bypass the city from I-75 from the north, I'd take I-285 west instead of east. Going east is the longer way around (about 6 miles longer according to Google Maps), since 75 intersects 285 northwest of Atlanta. I've gone the way you described using 675 south of Atlanta on my way to Macon, but I come in from the northeast on I-85, so it's the quicker route for me.

Personally, I'd just go through the city on a Sunday, especially if you can use the carpool lanes like Disneybird mentioned. If you'd rather bypass downtown though (which I can understand, especially with the construction) my suggestion would be 285 west. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Just out of curiosity, I had Google Maps plot the mileage three different ways between a point just north of where I-75 south meets I-285 and a point just south of where I-675 meets I-75.


Straight through Atlanta (I-75 straight): 32 miles
West bypass (I-75 to I-285 west to I-75): 36.6 miles
East bypass (I-75 to I-285 east to I-675 south to I-75): 43.7 miles

 

[wdwmomof3]

I would go West too but I have to warn you that even once you are past Atlanta the traffic is still bad and you never know what may hold you up for a while. Just be prepared for some kind of road work or cows or chickens on the interstate. It's always something crazy over there. :hammer:

 

[JustPlainBill]

If you're going to bypass the city from I-75 from the north, I'd take I-285 west instead of east. Going east is the longer way around (about 6 miles longer according to Google Maps), since 75 intersects 285 northwest of Atlanta. I've gone the way you described using 675 south of Atlanta on my way to Macon, but I come in from the northeast on I-85, so it's the quicker route for me.

Personally, I'd just go through the city on a Sunday, especially if you can use the carpool lanes like Disneybird mentioned. If you'd rather bypass downtown though (which I can understand, especially with the construction) my suggestion would be 285 west. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks, I had originally plotted the route west like you suggest, I showed it to a coworker the morning before I started this thread. He noticed that the westerly bypass route took me directly below the airport. He advised me to steer clear of there because the possibility of more traffic. Which is why I plotted the easterly course in retrospect. Do you think the Airport is a factor or not? My coworker and I are both very experienced Chicago area drivers but Atlanta we haven't the first clue, it's all guesswork and supposition on our part. I am also considering casting aside my fears and plowing head-first through the city on I-75 anyway, just because maybe this is all to do over nothing. Though my instinct tells me I will regret it if I do.:shrug: I'm really not a big baby when it comes to traffic jams, I can handle it like the next person. If I can control my exposure to a degree, I'll make the effort. If the construction only adds another 15 or 20 minutes, no big deal, a couple of hours, however is. A big city like Atlanta I wouldn't know what to expect. I thought it was crazy last summer going through Atlanta on a Sunday and seeing traffic like we did without construction going on. I shudder to think what it will be like with lane closures.

I would go West too but I have to warn you that even once you are past Atlanta the traffic is still bad and you never know what may hold you up for a while. Just be prepared for some kind of road work or cows or chickens on the interstate. It's always something crazy over there. :hammer:

I know what you mean even well outside Atlanta we experienced unknown traffic delays in the middle of nowhere. I will say from Chicago to Orlando the worst and only traffic we experienced was in the state of Georgia, north and south.

 

[JustPlainBill]

I live right above Chattanooga and travel through Atlanta pretty often. We always use the HOV lane which you can use with your family. And Sunday traffic will be easier to maneuver than on a weekday. I never use the bypass because I think it adds time. But I haven't dealt with the construction either.
Atlanta is one of those cities I always dread driving through though.

Thanks, I never thought of using these lanes, not knowing the restrictions. I wonder if the construction will have an effect on them as well?

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Do you think the Airport is a factor or not?

I can only share my experience, which is that I've never run into traffic problems near the airport. I drove in there a few days before Christmas and drove out the day before New Years with no issue. One thing Atlanta does do right is having MARTA (elevated rail) go there, so it probably alleviates some of the traffic issues around the airport.

Did you read that there will be lane closures ON THE INTERSTATE or on adjoining roads? If they're closing interstate lanes, I'd avoid the city at any time. I just wouldn't want to take the chance, because that's the kind of thing that can bottle up cars quick.

As I said in another thread, Atlanta's always a crapshoot, but if I were in your position, I think I'd skip the city if there are going to be lane closures and take the west bypass. With it being a Sunday, I think that you should be fine going that way and it doesn't add much to your drive.

 

[JustPlainBill]

Did you read that there will be lane closures ON THE INTERSTATE or on adjoining roads? If they're closing interstate lanes, I'd avoid the city at any time. I just wouldn't want to take the chance, because that's the kind of thing that can bottle up cars quick.

The link below is the actual posting from the GDoT.
They're resurfacing all lanes on I-75/85 through the downtown area starting April 4th through November 2008, they are limiting the major work to weekends only, it sounds fairly intrusive.
I appreciate your feedback, thanks.:wave:
If anyone is driving through this area now, since it looks like the work may have started already, a report would be most helpful.
Thanks again!
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/informat...erstates/downtownconnector/Pages/default.aspx

 

[Wilt Dasney]

OK, I do remember hearing about that on the radio now. I'd avoid downtown like the plague during that project, if I could help it. :lol:

 

[JustPlainBill]

OK, I do remember hearing about that on the radio now. I'd avoid downtown like the plague during that project, if I could help it. :lol:

Thank you...I will as well.
I'll consider replotting my course to use the western bypass instead of the eastern one since it makes more sense mileage-wise.
I can get myself to a point of indecision by paralysis of analysis. What good does it do you to use a bypass route if it takes you just as long to circumnavigate the city or state as it would if you just plowed on ahead through the construction zone? The only bad variable being the unknown, I had an employee that went through some bad traffic on the Kennedy expressway (Chicago) coming home from the city on a Sunday evening a couple of years ago. There was some kind of accident (no construction) that shut down all the lanes of the expressway for 6 hours. All he could do was turn his car off and sit. This experience is what scares me the most, especially with little kids in the car, how awful!