Site Navigation Alabama Florida Georgia Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee     Interstate 85 & 75 Northbound (Downtown Connector) Interstate 75 and 85 share pavement throughout the central business district of Atlanta. These pivotal southeastern Interstates share a total of 16 lanes in downtown Atlanta, a width distinction rarely matched (the New Jersey Turnpike also widens to 16 lanes). Stack interchanges facilitate travel between Interstate 20 and Georgia 10 (planned Interstate 485) along the way. Atlanta attractions served by the freeway include Turner Field (home to the Atlanta Braves) - Exit 245, the Martin Luther King Junior National Historic Site - Exit 248B, and the Georgia State Capital. Since the Perimeter Highway (Interstate 285) is vastly developed and serves a good deal of local travel, the recommended through route for traffic pertaining to Interstate 75 and 85 is to stay on the mainline. Oftentimes, traffic flows more efficiently along the overlap then on Interstate 285 outside of the city. This busy corridor is constantly undergoing improvements and changes. One recent change was the construction of the $38 million 17th Street bridge over the Interstate 75/85 Downtown Connector, which opened on Monday, January 5, 2004. Distinctive for its yellow color, the 17th Street bridge allows motorists from southbound Interstate 85 to turn left into Midtown Atlanta.1 Interstate 75 & 85 North Departing the Georgia 166 (Langford Parkway) directional cloverleaf interchange on Interstate 75 & 85 northbound in South Atlanta. Photo taken 08/22/03. Interstate 75 & 85 vary between 12 and 16 lanes on the travel through the downtown area of the Georgia capital city. This view reveals how highly attractive the urban freeway is at times. Atlanta itself is situated in the southern reaches of the Appalachian Piedmont. Thus the terrain and associated residential areas nearby allow for some splendid curvature to the road itself. Photo taken 08/22/03. Exit 244 sign bridge depicted in the background of the above photograph. This first mainline interchange of Interstate 75 & 85 links the freeway with University Avenue. The east-west arterial travels between U.S. 19 & 41 (Stewart Avenue) and Pryor Street. Photo taken 10/04/01. Northbound at the diamond interchange of Exit 244. University Avenue connects the freeway with Capital and Ridge Avenues and the eastern beginning of McDonough Boulevard. A direct ramp onto Capital Avenue still lies ahead. Photo taken 08/22/03. Nearing the Ormond Street off-ramp of Interstate 75 & 85 northbound (Exit 245). This northbound only ramp serves Turner Field (located at the intersection of Abernathy Boulevard and Capital Avenue/Hank Aaron Drive), home of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves. The stadium opened in 1996 as part of the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta. Visible to the right of the freeway mainline is Pryor Street. Photo taken 08/22/03. Original button copy overheads at the Norfolk-Southern Railroad crossing. Georgia Avenue is the original name for the Ralph D. Abernathy Boulevard at Turner Field. The Exit 90 (Exit 245) panel for the Capital Avenue interchange refers to Fulton County Stadium. The facility once known as "The Launching Pad" due to the propensity of home runs hit there is the predecessor of Turner Field. Photo taken 04/95. The Abernathy Boulevard and Capital Avenue exit departs Interstate 75 & 85 at the Pryor Street overpass. Abernathy Boulevard is three blocks to the north. Capital Avenue is two blocks to east. Ormond Street continues east to Grant Park. Photo taken 08/22/03. The magnificent downtown skyline of Atlanta draws into view between Exits 245 and 246. At this point Interstate 75 & 85 widen to 14 overall lanes. The innermost lane in each direction is reserved for HOV-2 (High Occupancy Two) vehicles at all times. The carpool lane is in effect 24 hours a day and remains throughout the nine mile overlap. Photo taken 08/22/03. The Exit 246 Downtown ramp departs the freeway south of Abernathy Boulevard and west of Turner Field. The two lane ramp splits into two prongs. The western prong descends onto Capital Avenue west of Interstate 75 & 85. The eastern prong continues northward to Fulton Street adjacent to the Interstate 20 stack interchange. Photo taken 08/22/03. Two lanes allocate for the Exit 247 stack interchange with Interstate 20. Known as the Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway, Interstate 20 bisects the city and metropolitan area of Atlanta between Birmingham, Alabama and Augusta. The overpass in the background is that of the Capital Avenue off-ramp of Exit 246. Photo taken 10/04/01. Five lanes of Interstate 75 & 85 continue northward through the Exit 247 junction. Departing in this scene are the ramps for Interstate 20 and the HOV only ramp to Memorial Drive. The HOV ramp curves into downtown at the intersection of Central Avenue and Memorial Drive. Photo taken 08/22/03. Detail of the Interstate 20 (Exit 247) overhead. Interstate 20 varies between 12 and 16 lanes on the trek through the central business district of Atlanta. The metropolitan area encompasses the freeway between mileposts 24 and 96. Photo taken 08/22/03. Interstate 75 & 85 northbound at the Fulton Street overpass and Exit 247 gore point. Above is the end of the Exit 246 off-ramp to Fulton Street and Interstate 75 & 85 on-ramp from Fulton Street. The Interstate 20 off-ramp splits into its respective components below. Photo taken 08/22/03. Entering the intricate network of the Interstate 20 stack interchange on Interstate 75 & 85 north. The Memorial Drive HOV off-ramp is visible to the left. The interchange itself is a modified version of a standard symmetrical stack. Photo taken 10/04/01. Asides the connections between Interstates 75 & 85 with Interstate 20, ramps also exist within this confluence to/from Pryor Street from Interstate 20. The southbound off-ramp and northbound return ramp from Fulton Street to Interstates 75 & 85 also add to the complexity. Photo taken 08/22/03. The Georgia State Capital dome pokes above the flyover ramps of the Interstate 20 junction. The government complex is situated one an a half blocks to the north at the intersection of Capital Avenue and Mitchell Street. Photo taken 08/22/03. A short tunnel system places Capital Avenue above Interstate 75 & 85 and the respective ramps to/from Interstate 20. The first upcoming exits sign posted for the freeway features Exits 248B, 248C, and 249B. Exits 248A and 249A can be found in the southbound direction of the paired routes. Photo taken 08/22/03. The Interstate 20 northbound on-ramp merges onto Interstate 75 & 85 at the Martin Luther King Drive overcrossing. Traffic from Martin Luther King Drive (Exit 248A southbound) merges onto the freeway ahead. The addition of the Exit 248A on-ramp becomes an exit-only auxiliary lane for Exit 248B (Edgewood Avenue). Photo taken 08/22/03. Approaching the Exit 248B off-ramp for Edgewood, Auburn, and JW Dobbs Avenues. This folded diamond interchange utilizes Fort Street northbound and Bell Street southbound to connect the freeway with Auburn and JW Dobbs Avenues. The ramps themselves tie into intersections with Edgewood Avenue. Photo taken 08/22/03. Seven northbound lanes progress toward Exit 248C (Georgia 10). An eighth auxiliary lane becomes exit-only for Freedom Parkway east and Andrew Young International Boulevard west. The short Georgia 10 freeway spur composes the only construction portion of the abandoned Interstate 485 urban loop. Photo taken 08/22/03. Two ramps depart ahead of the Georgia 10 stack interchange of Interstate 75 & 85 northbound. Exit 248C carries two lanes onto Georgia 10 (Freedom Parkway) eastbound and Andrew Young International Boulevard westbound into Downtown. An HOV only left-hand ramp departs for nearby Piedmont Avenue and Baker Street. Photo taken 08/22/03. Looking northward at the Exit 248C ramp partition. Traffic turning west into downtown descends upon a signalized intersection with Ellis Street to the left. The eastbound beginning of Georgia 10 travels via Freedom Parkway to the Jimmy Carter Center and a conclusion of U.S. 29 & 278 (Ponce De Leon Avenue). Photo taken 08/22/03. The intersection of Piedmont Avenue and Baker Street occurs above the Interstate 75 & 85 mainline. A tunnel complex shuttles traffic underneath of the surface streets north of the Exit 248C stack interchange. Two blocks to the northwest is the departure of the Pine Street off-ramp (Exit 249B). This curved ramp drops traffic onto Pine Street at the intersection with Peachtree Street two blocks west of the Atlanta Civic Center. Photo taken 10/04/01. Interstate 75 & 85 northbound as they round the bend underneath Spring Street. Exit 249D serves the U.S. 19 (Spring and Peachtree Streets) via ramps at Linden Avenue. U.S. 29 travels nearby via North Avenue one block to the north. U.S. 278 overlaps with U.S. 29, but is not displayed on northbound guide signs for Exit 249D. Photo taken 08/22/03. Exit 250 represents the last exit of the Interstate 75 & 85 overlap through Atlanta. The northbound off-ramp departs onto Williams Street northbound two blocks south of 10th Street near Georgia Tech University. Williams Street continues northward to Georgia 9 (14th Street) and an on-ramp to Interstate 75 north. The overpass above is that of U.S. 29 & 278 (North Avenue). Photo taken 08/22/03. Northbound at the 5th Street overpass and Exit 250 ramp departure for 10th and 14th Streets. U.S. 19 parallels Williams Street two blocks to the east of Interstate 75 & 85 via Spring and Peachtree Streets. This off-ramp is the last opportunity for both Interstate 75 and 85 northbound traffic to access the federal highway. Photo taken 08/22/03. Interstate 75 and 85 prepare to split as they travel underneath the 10th Street overcrossing. An independent off-ramp also exists for the HOV-2 lane onto Interstate 75 northbound. The Interstate 85 departure is considered Exit 251 of Interstate 75. Photo taken 10/04/01. Descending toward the end of the Interstate 75 & 85 overlap. The junction between the two highways is actually just a standard trumpet interchange. However both freeways maintain at least six lanes overall through the junction of Exit 251. Southbound motorists do see an Exit 250 off-ramp for Techwood Drive and Georgia Tech University within the Interstate 75 & 85 complex. Photo taken 08/22/03. Attached to the 14th Street (Georgia 9) overpass is a diagrammatical overhead for Exit 251. Seven lanes of freeway continue a short distance before the partition ahead. Interstate 75 travels northwest to Marietta (pop. 58,748) and other northwest suburbs before reaching Chattanooga, Tennessee. Interstate 85 turns northeasterly, parallelling the Georgia 13 freeway, to Norcross (pop. 8,410), Lawrenceville (pop. 22,397), and Greenville, South Carolina. Photo taken 08/22/03. Traffic volumes are always heavy on the stretch of freeway north of downtown. Connections via Interstate 575, Georgia Toll 400 (and U.S. 19), Interstate 985, and Georgia 316 serve the outer suburbs of northern Atlanta. These include the communities of Alpharetta (pop. 34,854), Canton (pop. 7,709), Dunwoody (pop. 32,808), Gainesville (pop. 25,578), Roswell (pop. 79,334), Suwanee (pop. 8,725), and Woodstock (pop. 10,050) among others. Photo taken 10/04/01. Interstate 85 travels over Interstate 75 within the trumpet interchange. The HOV lane of Interstate 75 & 85 partitions into separate components within the junction itself. Interstate 85 sees 250,000 vpd (vehicles per day) continue northward from Interstate 75. Interstate 75 tallies 178,000 vpd north of the split. Photo taken 10/04/01. Sources: 1 - "Wearing its stripes: The new bridge will remain yellow." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 5, 2004. < Page Updated January 5, 2004.