Atlanta Georgia Crew...How Do You ...

Put up with the traffic on I75 and 285?

It takes 2+ hours to go from northern city limits to the I75/675 interchange !

I go through there a couple times a month going from Chicago to Florida. I always go through downtown on I-75, I know the lanes to be in especially with a trailer to get through better. There is rarely a good time to go through Atlanta. The I rarely go 285, there is always a car on fire and an accident or three. One of the worst cities to drive through in the US...

It’s been a disaster to go through for at least the last 25 years that I’ve been through it. Probably longer.

Yep, I 75 through downtown seems to work best. If you have to take 285 just be prepared to be there awhile.

I don't! I stay out of ATL as much as possible. If I do travel, I try to do it in off traffic hours. It's horrible!

The older I get the more I avoid big cities. I live in a town of 2000 people with 1 stop light. If there's more than half dozen cars at the light we wonder WTH is going on, My daughter lives outside Chicago and sometimes I think WTH!! Why do people want to deal with the chaos????

Since Covid and less people working downtown it has seemed to be better. My last trip through last earlier this month it was raining, and that always spells doom going through Atlanta. There were no accidents, and only two slowdowns, and this was at 5:45 PM!

First time, the family and I flew down to Forida. So much less stress🤓

I don’t think I have ever been to or through Atlanta without seeing at least one car on its side or roof.

Last time I was down there I was on 85 N, there were multiple grass fires in the median and shoulders and no one seemed concerned...is that typical?

I try to stay out outside 285 unless I can't avoid it (taking wife to Dr. for example). We have PeachPass on our vehicles and that helps a lot but even then I tend to take surface streets. We live in the NE suburbs well outside 285 (985 & 85 area). If we are headed south to Florida, I always leave around 2 a.m. but even then it's hit or miss going through Atlanta.
Born & raised in and around Atlanta, I can well remember when the interstates were 2 lanes and traffic was practically non-existent. About the only time you would get jammed up was in the event of a wreck.


Tim

three things to remember.
#1. Timing - Obviously avoid morning and afternoon rush hours. 6:00am-10:00am & 3:00pm-8:00pm. If you are scheduled to go through during either of these times, just don't do it.
#2. Route - Turn to a local radio station and listen to the traffic report. It will help you decide on driving straight through or talking the 285 loop
#3. GPS with Traffic - Simply get Waze on your phone and go the route it tells you. The real time traffic updates on there are amazing. I use it faithfully as I travel I-85 up to NC a couple of times a month.Not many detour options on that route, but I often get routed off the highway for a few miles to avoid a wreck.

As mentioned by some, Covid slowed things down for a while, but the last time I went through during the day things looked back to bad. I always go to the airport about 4:00-5:00 AM and never have an issue.
In general I stay away from downtown. About as close as I get is Caffeine and Octane on the first Sunday of each month, and that is outside of the perimeter. Everything I would ever need is North of town, except Summit racing and the airport.

We were taking our daughter to a gymnastics meet in Florida.

Had to go through Atlanta. I timed it so that we would go through in the middle of the night (10 or 11pm) because I had heard the horror stories.

Still hit a ton of traffic--even at that hour....