[ale] OT: Best way to go from I75 north to 20 west in Atlanta

[Lightner, Jeffrey]

For the I 285 suggestion someone else gave - when getting on I 285 south of Atlanta off I 75 make sure they look for the I 285 sign that includes "Birmingham" (which would be west but may be labeled as north there).   Do NOT go the direction of Greenville as that would the long way around (I285 is a complete loop and is 60 miles long).    I 285 that way from the south side to the north side is actually about the same distance as coming through town and they'll pass the exit for I 20.   

When I first got to Atlanta in the 80s I made the mistake of telling someone giving me phone directions that I was at I 285 and I 75.   Since they were on I 85 near the airport they assumed I was South of the city but I was North.  It meant I had to drive the long way around.   Worse yet once I finally got to the exit they'd told me to take I was of course coming from the wrong direction so turning off the exit I was going away from them.   I knew something was up when I got a dirt road without seeing them.   

I've done the I 10 drive and the I 20 (I 20 actually ends at I 10 somewhere in New Mexico/West Texas area.   I 10 in California actually goes north.   I've also done the I 40 drive.   As others have mentioned they wouldn't want to go I 75 to I 40 as that would take them all the way up to Knoxville so they'd be going across the long part of Tennessee - there are other routes that will take them through Alabama up to Memphis on the other side of Tennessee.

MapQuest and Google Maps are good for planning routes and will give them turn by turn and distances that they can print.



-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Sean
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 5:02 PM
To: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: Best way to go from I75 north to 20 west in Atlanta


steve,
My wife and I have made the trip west from Atlanta many times -- towing a small camping trailer.  We are aware of the difficulties.
Here is one way to avoid the mess that is Atlanta -- which is not QUITE as bad as it was last month now that I-85 has reopened:

Head North on I-75 into Georgia and leave the interstate at Tifton and head west, through Albany, GA, on US82. Continue west on US82 to Montgomery, AL, and pick up I-65 North to Birmingham. There shift to I-
22 and head for Memphis, and then pick up I-40.
The problem with this route is that Oklahoma is just as hot as the more southern routes and the roads are worse -- MUCH worse.  We will not drive through Oklahoma and longer as the potholes and broken pavement
-- on the interstates -- were tearing up our car and trailer.
Personally, I would recommend using I-20 all the way to Dallas and then  swing around that mess to the north and take US 287 all the way to Amarillo.  From there I-40 through Albuquerque is lightly traveled.

Your relatives can use the route above to Birmingham and then pick up
I-20 towards Dallas.

If they want to stick to the interstates (and play with all the trucks that are moving through Atlanta) they should schedule their ride through the Atlanta metroplex between 10 am and 2 pm, Saturday through Thursday.  Traffic can turn into a real hairball on Friday anytime after noon.

Westbound traffic on I-20  twenty miles outside Atlanta has a LOT of trucks, but usually rolls along at or above the speed limit.

Sean

----------------------------------------------------------------
On Wed, 2017-05-24 at 15:50 -0400, Steve Litt wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm from Orlando Florida, and all I know about Atlanta traffic is that 
> the traffic on I75 is usually horrible from mile marker 185 near 
> Forsythe up past downtown Atlanta up to about mile marker 285. I once 
> averaged 10mph on I75, north of downtown Atlanta, for two straight 
> hours, on a Saturday night at 10:30pm. I also know that once, trying 
> to avoid that kind of traffic, I took the I285 loop to bypass mile 
> markers
> 238 thru 259, and that was horrible too.
> 
> I have relatives who need to drive from Orlando to Los Angeles in 
> early September. They want to take the north route (I40) instead of 
> the south route (I10) due to the extreme heat in September. To the 
> extent possible, they want to stick to the Interstate freeway system.
> 
> If traffic were not an issue, I75 to I20 to I22 to I40 would be 
> perfect. So I have some questions about traffic:
> 
> Is the traffic on I20 west of downtown as bad as I75 traffic? How far 
> west of downtown is it below 40mph?
> 
> Would I75 to I285 to I20 be better than I75 directly to I20, or is
> I285
> still so full of construction that it's slower than I75?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt
> May 2017 featured book: Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/28
> 
> 
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