Is Early Sunday Morning a Good Time to Drive Through Atlanta? (Stone Mountain: rental, home)

[Noreaster73]

Hi Everyone. My kids and I are heading down to FL. via I 75, in September, and am trying to find the best day and time to get through Atlanta with as little grief as possible. I've only driven through there once before, and it was on a weekday during rush hour, needless to say it was a less than pleasant experience. I've read that the best time is roughly between 10pm and 3am, but I'd really like stick to daytime driving, so I was wondering if early Sunday morning would be my next best option?

[CCATL]

Yes, unless there is a major accident or something, that's a perfect time to drive through. You shouldn't hit any traffic. Traffic really isn't that bad outside of rush hour any day - 10pm-3am being the only good times to drive through the city is an exaggeration.

[Noreaster73]

Thanks!

[DaBurgh]

Yep that'll work, in fact I do most of my sight seeing around the metro on Sunday mornings. Way back in the day my dad took me out to learn how to drive on Sunday mornings, because there was never any traffic. One thing you may want to do before coming through, is check a local website like this Atlanta Traffic from the 24-hour WSB Traffic Center | www.wsbradio.com for any road construction on that day.

[sedimenjerry]

That's the best time in the area! Even with construction (if there is any) delays would be non existent.

[Iconographer]

Yes, at that time here everybody is either in church or in bed hung over.

[bravos]

September 7th may be a rough traffic day depending on how early you're traveling through. The Saints are in town to play the Falcons at 1pm EST. The rest of the Sundays are clear football wise.

[dblackga]

Busy weekend in Hotlanta: Falcon are playing. Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain (400+ arts and crafts booths). Atlanta Home Show at the Cobb Galleria. The Georgia Home Show at the World Congress Center. Stay OUT of the downtown area, and you'll be fine. Really, any day is usually pretty good as long as you avoid rush hours (6 am - 9:30 am and 3:30 pm - 7:00 pm weekdays) or there isn't a wreck -- and that's true of just about any interstate, really.

Since the Falcons are playing that day, depending on what time you are coming through, take 285 west/south from I-75 and circle around the west side of Atlanta, then pick up 75 again on the south side of town. That would keep you out of the downtown area.

And, really, if you want to break the trip up and have some fun, try stopping by the Yellow Daisy Festival -- the kids would probably really enjoy it, and you might, too:

Stone Mountain Park - Yellow Daisy Festival

[Noreaster73]

Thanks for all of the great info! We're planning on coming through on the 14th, are there any big events that weekend, or a site where I can check for myself? Also, I'm debating on when we should return. I'd really love to have another Sunday drive, but it'll mean paying an extra 100 bucks to keep our rental for two more days. Would Saturday morning be a lot worse, or could we possibly get through with little issue?

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by Noreaster73

Thanks for all of the great info! We're planning on coming through on the 14th, are there any big events that weekend, or a site where I can check for myself? Also, I'm debating on when we should return. I'd really love to have another Sunday drive, but it'll mean paying an extra 100 bucks to keep our rental for two more days. Would Saturday morning be a lot worse, or could we possibly get through with little issue?

Weekends in general you should be fine, barring huge events downtown. But even most of the big events won't get busy until midday, so mornings should be fine. Some of the previous events mentioned aren't actually in downtown Atlanta, except the football games, so I think those will have a minimal impact on downtown traffic. I would NOT recommend taking 285 at all - traffic is always worse, and it goes way around the city (like an extra 30 miles out of the way). IMHO, 10 min of traffic on the connector downtown is better than 285.