DOWNTOWN CONNECTOR

 
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 475 was originally planned by GDOT to carry some north/south traffic through the eastern side of the city, but most of this was cancelled 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 less 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, California, which is also known for its notoriously-congested freeway system.
The highway is fully instrumented with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices. There are nineteen closed-circuit television cameras between the Langford Pkwy 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.
The city's skyline, both Downtown and Midtown Atlanta, can be seen from the highway, especially at the northern and southern ends. The route also goes directly past Turner Field; formerly known as Centennial Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events were held for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics.

Contents

Gallery

Exit list

References

External links

Gallery

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).

#		Destinations	Notes
Old	New
Southern terminus of Downtown Connector and I-85/ I-85 concurrency. Freeway continues southbound as I-75 south.
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 has I-75/I-85 concurrency. Northbound has I-75 only.
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 - Andrew Young International Boulevard, (Freedom Parkway) - 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	US 19/US 29 - Spring Street, West Peachtree Street	Northbound exit. Exit to access US 78 and US 278.
100	249D	20 px 25 px US 78/US 278 (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-85/ I-85 concurrency. Freeway continues northbound as I-75 north

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.

External links

★ Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near the Brookwood Interchange

★ Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near Tenth St

★ Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near Grady Hosp

★ Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 at University Ave