Favorite Atlanta Expressway

[Scraper Enthusiast]

What is your favorite expressway to drive on in the Atlanta area? Consider factors such as general comfort, flow of traffic, aesthetics, landscaping, urban/suburban characteristics. It's whatever floats your boat. What you like in the expressway, and the reasons why it is your favorite.

Explain your favorite and indicate why you like it so much.

[Newnan]

GA 400 never widens to the point of epic proportions like other freeways do, and I like the area it goes through. I also go on it to see a lot of my family members, so the highway always reminds me of the warmth of family

[Andrea]

None of them belong inside the city limits, but I don't see where I can check that option. In terms of cruising rapidly without interference through scenic countryside, I don't think anything comes close to I-575 once you get past Cherokee County.

[AubieTurtle]

Freedom Parkway... everything else is complete poo-poo.

Don't expect the trees along GA400 to survive another decade. Continual rounds of widening will eventually cause them to fall and be replaced by hundreds of billboards. The fantasy of a double deck just isn't feasible.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

My favorite is the Ronald Reagan Parkway. It's never clogged with traffic. You're able to coast through nice areas, where the area surrounding the road is landscaped very well. Georgia 400 would be my second pic.

[Go Gators]

Not from Atlanta, but I like the drive out to Stone Mountain on the Stone Mountain Freeway.

[Martinman]

Maybe its because it was where I lived when I first moved to Atlanta but I've always thought I-75 between Marietta and the city was, for an expressway, the most pleasing drive into the city. There's a lot of tree cover through the Chattahoochee/ Vinings/ Mt Paran area which is nice especially in the fall.

[LizellaJacket]

I like 75 right as you cross into Cobb. The Chattahoochee area is nice.

The most absolutely disgusting piece of interstate is I-85 going into Gwinnett County(suprised?). The 3400 mattress and rug stores really say Welcome to Atlanta.

[ryanmckibben]

Isn't this like asking what your favorite skin rash is? They're all ugly.

[weymo]

I'm an old fogie at heart. I like the old small cloverleaf with very little bank so you have to take them slow. Some examples of this are the "secret" ramp to I-285 on I-75 southbound (you know when you miss the eastbound exit you get a second chance...THAT one. Or better yet, leaving midtown heading north on the 'limited access' which runs parallel to I-85 that ends up down there by Sunset Grill & RuSan. I think it's old I-85...it's a sweet little stretch where the trees lean in. I also like the Mt. Paran onramp because of that same thing...the green is taking over again...mimosas, pine & kudzu.

[AubieTurtle]

^^^

I think you're talking about the Buford Connector (GA13).

[Andrea]

Or better yet, leaving midtown heading north on the 'limited access' which runs parallel to I-85 that ends up down there by Sunset Grill & RuSan. I think it's old I-85...

Yeah, that was the original I-85. I can't remember when the current I-85 opened -- early 80's, perhaps?

[jaz82]

I-20 Through Douglas County is very nice. No Billboards clogging the sky, Great Tree Cover, only a little sprawl can be seen in the Arbor Place Mall Area (So Far, Not liking the looks of the 2 additional Lanes, plus the HOV lanes planned through Douglas County, only means doom for the tree cover.) If people didn't know better, they would confuse the western portion with driving through rural areas.

I agree with whoever said 85 through Gwinnett as the worst. You pass into coming from Jackson county and it hits you like a ton of bricks.

[ironchapman]

I picked I-20 just because I use it so much. It's got a great view of the skyline just before the Six Flags/Riverside Drive exit as well.

[Ugastin07]

I chose 1-75 because coming in through Cobb is very visually appealling. Unlike most interstates, there is a well defined tree line seperating the freeway from homes and businesses and almost all of the on/off ramps are well landscaped and actually maintained. I especially like it when you get closer to South Cobb and Vinings with the hills and towers that seem to pop up out of forests. After the hill near W Paces Ferry there is a great view of midtown and part of downtown, and because of the hill the buildings seem huge and very dense. With the expansion of 1-75, I am afraid this stretch of interstate will look more like 1-85 with businesses instead of trees literally fronting the road.

[Andrea]

I have to agree with Ryan's comment about being asked to pick your favorite skin rash. I don't believe freeways have any business inside cities, and as I take my walk I cannot help but look back at the city with mixed feelings about what we have wrought.

[ryanmckibben]

Thank You Andrea, it's nice to know someone is listening.

[Lady Celeste]

No Ryan.........I agree with Andrea and you. I can't think of a favorite expressway. They are soooooooooooo utilitarian. There is nothing pleasing about them. I didn't vote or comment until I saw Andrea with your sentiments. They are what they are...nothing more...just a quick way to ferry people from point a to point b.

[nitek_of_mobile]

I-85, from Newnan to Atlantic Station and beyond, is the most visually appealing interstate highway in metropolitan Atlanta. Especially remarkable is when I-85 becomes intertwined with the lanes of I-285 just south of Hartsfield and its own airport road system.

Yes, my selection is a bit weird, but I have a penchant for gritty urban highway infrastructure.

[SkyDave]

When I drive through Atlanta, I love I-75. The views of Downtown, Midtown, and the Perimeter are just awesome. You have tons of greenery the whole way and the rolling hills just gives the city a certain wonderful ambiance all the way to the Georgia Mtns. Simply Beautiful!!!

[roads-scholar]

I vote for the northside arc of 285. All those lanes!

[OneSweetWorld]

I vote for the northside arc of 285. All those lanes!

then why dont you have 285 as your pic instead of 585...

anyways, just wondering, how many lanes does that freeway have? ( in each direction)

[Trae_1]

I-85 is nice. That is one of the only interstates I'm on when I'm in Atlanta, because some of my family lives around Lawrenceville.