75 to 85 WITHOUT ATLANTA...

Leave all the coastal states in your past and enjoy a much happier life.

 

Can you try adjusting your schedule so you are coming through Atlanta late at night or early morning? I go from Cartersville to Gainesville a good bit. I use Hwy 20 to Hwy 369. That will get over to the I-985 around exit 20. You can pick up Hwy 53 in Gainesville over to I-85. I don't care for Hwy 53 between I-575 and I-985.

 

Not worth it.

Take the Atlanta. Or avoid Georgia all together.

 

Yep, I'll plan my trip to where I'll be passing through at night or early AM. I know sometimes you won't be able to and your just gonna have to bare it at rush hours. Just make sure you have 2hrs to kill

 

At this point, Atlanta and Nashville should be named "Twin cities"... at least when it comes to traffic.

 

No there is not. I took hwy 20 between I-85 & I-75. It took longer than it would have if I used I-285. Atlanta is smart enough to NOT build an alternative to 285.

 

There is a proposal that is called "The Northern Arc". They started it in the mid 2000s at exit 285 on I-75. When the economy tanked they scrapped it. Not sure if they will get back on it or not. They have been more focused on the I-75 reversible roll lanes lately.

 

https://www.trucks.com/2016/05/02/georgia-plans-truck-only-roadway-to-fight-traffic/

 

GA-53 is a good road, just kind of slow going with some terrain and small towns. That route is only worthwhile if it's rush hour in ATL, or some major accident on the I-285 route. Other times with lighter traffic, via I-285 is maybe a few minutes faster and less work.

Edit to add: Any E/W route from GA-20 on down to I-285 is generally a bad idea due to local traffic congestion. Once you're past the 312 on I-75SB just buckle in and keep going. Past there forget about an end-to-end thru route.

Another thing that can help is learning some of the local routes closer to ATL to get around accidents and whatnot. For example exiting I-75 and getting on Cobb Pkwy/US-41 for a few miles to get around a backup. A whole bunch of alternates to get around the I-285/I-85NB interchange. Best to glance at real-time traffic before you hit the backup and choose an alternate ahead of time. Figure on any alternate adding 15-30 min drive time, so obviously don't do it unless you know where you're going and the main route is definitely worse. Sometimes it's just better to wait out a less than major delay versus getting lost on the surface streets.