Downtown Connector

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Interstate 75/85
Downtown Connector
Maintained by Georgia Department of Transportation
Length: 7.4 mi (12 km)
Formed: early 1950s
South end: I-85 towards Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Major
junctions:		 SR 166 in Atlanta
I-20 in Atlanta
North end: I-85 near Buckhead
Counties: Fulton
Major cities: Atlanta
System: Interstate
Georgia State Routes
< SR 400 SR 401 SR 402 >
< SR 402 SR 403 SR 404 >

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (pronounced "seventy-five eighty-five") is the overlapped connector of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/Langford Parkway interchange, the Downtown Connector runs generally due north, meeting the east-west Interstate 20 in the middle. Just north of this is the Grady Curve around Grady Memorial Hospital. Continuing north, the terminus of the Downtown Connector is the Brookwood Interchange or Brookwood Split in the Brookwood area of the city. The overall length of the Downtown Connector is approximately seven and one-half miles.

The highway was constructed in the early 1950s as a six-lane thoroughfare, and was numbered State Route 295,[1] and was slated to carry U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 41 at one point.[2] The route was heavily reconstructed during the 1980s as part of the Freeing the Freeways program to widen Atlanta-area Interstates. Today the highway carries as many as 16 lanes of traffic in some sections, placing it among the widest roads in the world. In addition to the general purpose lanes, there is a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction for the entire length of the highway. The proposed Interstate 485 was originally planned by the Georgia Department of Transportation to carry some north-south traffic through the eastern side of the city, but most of this was canceled in the 1970s under Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia. (Parts of that road are now Interstate 675 and State Route 400.)

The Downtown Connector carries more than 323,000 vehicles per day at its busiest point — between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Edgewood Avenue, while no portion of the Downtown Connector carries fewer than 236,000 vehicles per day.[3] The area around the connector and associated interchanges are considered one of the 10 most congested stretches of interstate in the U.S.[1] Due to this fact, many motorists often compare Atlanta to Los Angeles, which is also known for its notoriously-congested freeway system.

The highway is fully instrumented with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices. There are 19 closed-circuit television cameras between the Langford Parkway interchange (south end) and the Brookwood Interchange (north end). Additionally, the Downtown Connector has three large overhead electronic message signs, and four smaller HOV-dedicated message signs on the median barrier wall. Traffic flow data is gathered through a video detection system, using pole-mounted black-and-white cameras spaced every 1/3 mile on both sides of the roadway. All video and data is fed into the Georgia Department of Transportation's Transportation Management Center (TMC), via fiber optic cable located under the shoulders of the roadway.

Atlanta's skyline, both Downtown and Midtown, can be seen from the highway, especially at the northern and southern ends. The route also goes directly past Turner Field, formerly Centennial Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events were held for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics.

Contents

[edit] Gallery

North end of the Downtown Connector where I-75 and I-85 converge in Midtown

Downtown Connector view of the Downtown skyline

Downtown Connector facing south from Tenth Street bridge

Downtown Connector facing south from Fifth Street bridge; nighttime view

Aerial view of the Downtown Connector facing north from Downtown

Aerial view of the Downtown Connector facing south from Downtown

[edit] Exit list

Exits are numbered from south to north, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines. Mile markers and exit numbers have always been posted according to I-75 only, but once re-joining I-85 the numbers continue as if the motorist were traveling I-85 the entire time (not just picking up where they left off).

Although some signs indicate US 19/US 29 runs along Spring Street, this is not the case. US 19 runs concurrent to US 41/GA 3 up to 14th Street, and US 29 runs concurrent with US 78/US 278/GA 8 west until US 19/US 41/GA 3, where it runs concurrent southbound. US 19 and US 29 was routed on Spring Street until the late 1980's.

# Destinations Notes
Old New
Southern terminus of Downtown Connector and I-75/ I-85 concurrency.
Freeway continues as I-75 southbound.
87 242
Interstate 85 south - Atlanta Airport, Montgomery		 Southbound exit and northbound entrance.
I-85 is concurrent with unsigned GA 403.
88 243 SR 166 (Langford Parkway) - East Point Southbound exit is from I-75/I-85 concurrency; northbound exits are from I-75 and I-85 before merging.
89 244 University Avenue, Pryor Street Unsigned GA 54 begins here.
90 245 Abernathy Boulevard, Capitol Avenue, Turner Field Northbound exit and southbound entrance.
91 246 Fulton Street, Central Avenue, Downtown Exit to reach Georgia State University, Turner Field and downtown northbound.
Signed "Fulton Street, Turner Field" southbound.
92 247 I-20 (Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway) - Augusta, Birmingham Unsigned GA 402 is concurrent with I-20.
93 248A Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, State Capitol Southbound exit and northbound entrance.
94 248B Edgewood Avenue, Auburn Avenue, J.W. Dobbs Avenue  
96 248C
GA 10 east (Freedom Parkway) - Andrew Young International Boulevard - Carter Center		 Signed GA 10 (Freedom Parkway) - Carter Center southbound.
95 248D J.W. Dobbs Avenue, Edgewood Avenue Southbound exit.
97 249A Courtland Street, Georgia State University Southbound exit only.
98 249B Pine Street, Peachtree Street, Civic Center Northbound exit only.
Exit to reach Crawford Long Hospital.
99 249C Williams Street, Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Dome Southbound exit only.
100 249D Spring Street, West Peachtree Street Northbound exit.
Exit to access US 29/US 78/US 278/GA 8.
100 249D US 29/US 78/US 278/GA 8 (North Avenue) - Georgia Tech Southbound exit.
101 250 10th Street, 14th Street, Georgia Tech Northbound exit. No northbound entrance to I-85.
102 250 16th Street, 14th Street, 10th Street Southbound exit. Exit to access Georgia Tech.
103 251
I-85 north - Greenville		 Left exit northbound.
Northern terminus of Downtown Connector and I-75/ I-85 concurrency.
Freeway continues as I-75 northbound.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.geocities.com/garoadwarrior76/garoutelog281_300.html Accessed January 23, 2007
  2. ^ http://www.geocities.com/garoadwarrior76/SR295_1956 Accessed January 23, 2007
  3. ^ 2005 Annual Average Daily Traffic Report (AADT). Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Transportation Data. Last accessed January 2, 2007.

[edit] External links