A good time to drive through atlanta ??

m glassburner

m glassburner

New member
All jokes aside...Is there a good time ( i mean better than the usual parking lot ) to drive through
atlanta ? Last time we got there at about 7 pm and it was a 3 hour jam !! thanx...mdg, B) omni #19
 
Short answer, no. Just avoid 6-10 and 3-8 during the week, Saturday if Tech is playing at Grant Field, Sunday if Atlanta is playing in the Dome, and odd or even numbered days that end in "y".

You probably got stuck due to an accident.
 
Best bet is after 8pm at night. You might make it through between rush hours from 10am-3pm like Tom said. All bets are off if there's an accident. If you're coming up 75 from Florida I'd take 675 to 285 to 85 and bypass Atlanta.

David
 
Experience of driving through every year at this time since the Runoffs in '82 from every direction except north. The only time the traffic was clear, and I sailed through Atlanta was coming from Montgomery on I85 at 0300. The traffic was light, but I had to speed up to 90 to keep up!

If it rains, or if there's an accident, bring a sandwich, a soda, and a pee jug. You'll be there for a long, long time.
In variably, we hit town about 1500 and stop. I've tried coming from Montgomery up I85, 285E, and 285W. Don't recommend any of them.
I come through Birmingham on 20 and usually get off on 285W, but that can be an incredible hassle as the entrance ramp is short, tight, and usually blocked with trucks. Last year, and probably this year, we'll go to I85 through town. Oddly, it seems a little faster. At least the exit is easier to negotiate with a trailer and a caravan of crew vehicles.
Coming from the north would be much easier, as the track is about an hour north of Atlanta.
 
I have generally tried to arrange my travels so that I am driving through Atlanta on Sunday in the afternoon. I have on a couple of occasions driven through during the mid-morning hour and not had any real difficulties. I wish you well on your travels through the city.
 
The last two years, coming from Columbus, OH, we've left Wednesday night around 4pm. One year we drove to just past the TN/GA border on 75, pulled off the road before Atlanta, slept, and then got up around 5am to drive the rest of the way. This way we missed the north outerbelt rush hour. Last year we just drove the entire way at once and went across the outerbelt around 1 or 2am - I'll probably do that again this year. Leaving on Sunday afternoon and going back, I haven't had any problems no matter when I've left.
 
From a local. My work takes me on most of the highway at all hours of the day and night. The morning ane evening commute is growing at an alarming rate. It use to be that we had a morning and evening rush "hour". Now it's called commute because it last from 5 to 10am and 3 to 7pm on most days. As metro Atlanta continues to sprall is it growing steadily worse. This morning I was called out at 5am' and traffic was already thick on I75. The best time to get through metro Atlanta is between midnight and 5am. Anyother time is a crap shoot. I used to be able to take surrface streets to get around the congestion but it's getting just as bad there. According to a recient study Atlanta has the three top traffic spots in the nation. I75 & I285 interchange, The downtown connecter where I75, I85, and I20 merge, and spegetti junction I285 at I85 on the northeast corner. Anybody coming from the midwest. west, or south west will encounter at least two of these. Maybe all three. Your best shot is to plan your trip through Atlanta between 8pm and 5am.

Good luck
Chuck
ITA #34
 
Thanks everyone that really helps out a lot !! And that is just the answer I was afraid of <_< oh well
Good thing I'm planning ahead B)
 
Mike,
I've seen you negotiate "traffic"
I suspect Atlanta is a breese for a man of your talents.
Looking forward to racing with you again.
Derek
 
The best time? No more than fifteen seconds after Hell freezes over. :D

The best vehicle? M1A2 Abrams with full compliment of ordnance. :o

The thing to remember when moving through Atlanta traffic is that the other drivers aren't paying any more attention to driving or traffic than the Man in the Moon. It's kinda like the novice group in some HPDEs. :P
 
I guess we're lucky, coming from the northeast (via Charlotte). Never come across any significant traffic...

If the traffic's that bad, why not find some backroads to RA from Chattanooga, like through Dawsonville? Pretty fun to see all the Bill Elliott stuff there, anyway...I'd rather take slow pretty back roads than sit in traffic on a bypass... - GA

P.S. Ruck, your name is still missing from the entry list...what's wrong, can't choose a number?
 
Anybody coming down I-85 to RA should not experience any significant traffic unless there is an accident. I spend 2 hours parked on I-20 west of Tuscaloosa, AL due to a hazmat spill. We were in the middle of nowhere and could not do anything about it.

It's funny but having lived here since '76 and being forced to deal with Atlanta traffic I will agree it can really suck. I travel the Southeast, but since I work out of my home I do not commute. I've never been stuck for hours on end anywhere around Atlanta that is certain. I'm not saying it doesn't happen just that it doesn't seem as bad as most people claim.

I guess it's all relative to what you're used to.
 
Coming into Road Atlanta from 75S out of Chatanooga there a few secondary roads you can use. Either GA140 or GA20 east toward Canton then GA20 out of Canton (getting through Canton is a little tricky, after you get onto GA20, it takes you on US575 North for about 2 exits then off at exit 19 to GA20 east again) to GA369 accross Lake Lanier to GA53 East near Gainsville which will take you to the track. From the Canton area this takes me about an hour or less when I travel to F&C races. These are all two lane secondary roads and may have some rush our traffic, but it won't be the long hours of traffic like being talked about in the prior posts. Good luck, looking forward to another great show for the ARRC.
 
I've never been stuck for hours on end anywhere around Atlanta that is certain. I'm not saying it doesn't happen just that it doesn't seem as bad as most people claim.[/b]
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Geez, I was parked on I-285 for over three hours one night about ten years ago. They had all 10/12? lanes of I-285 shut down because an 18-wheeler load of blasting caps had overturned on the bridge over the 'hooch.
 
One of my customers is a Greyhound bus driver. When going through Atlanta from Birmingham, they do not even consider I285...avoid it like the plague. Straight in 20 to 85 north. I always leave to arrive at six flags about 10am or 2:30pm...by doing this I have yet to experience a delay....many years and many trips. Chucki
 
Avoid downtown Atlanta at all cost! Last time we went down on the way to Alabama we got stuck on that "Cheetah club" detour, cost us several hours and many hundred $$$
 
Avoid downtown Atlanta at all cost! Last time we went down on the way to Alabama we got stuck on that "Cheetah club" detour, cost us several hours and many hundred $$$
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Where did you park a tow rig in that area? :o
 
.... now that I have had time to think about it.......... getting stuck in that Atlanta detour was cheaper than stuck in Tampa
 
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