Suggestions for avoiding worst traffic - Mobile to Dawsonville (Atlanta: construction, moving to)

[Mobilemom52]

Our daughter is likely moving to Dawsonville for work, and we're wondering the best way to avoid as much of the Atlanta-area traffic as possible when we drive up to visit. How bad is 285 from near Union City to Sandy Springs? That seems to be what shows up as the quickest route.

Any suggestions to avoid traffic nightmares are welcome!!

[AtlJan]

It's best to hit Atlanta at an off peak time. Plan to pass through downtown Atlanta by 2:30pm at the latest to avoid afternoon rush hour traffic heading north.

In other words you do not want to be traveling into Atlanta during the hours of 7:30-10am, and you do not want to be leaving the Atlanta area during the hours of 3:00-7:00 pm.

On the return trip, you don't want to be going through Atlanta during either the morning rush or afternoon rush either.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Mobilemom52

Our daughter is likely moving to Dawsonville for work, and we're wondering the best way to avoid as much of the Atlanta-area traffic as possible when we drive up to visit. How bad is 285 from near Union City to Sandy Springs? That seems to be what shows up as the quickest route.

Any suggestions to avoid traffic nightmares are welcome!!

I guess that one of the best ways to avoid much of the traffic is to time your trip so that it happens on either a Sunday (outside of holiday and vacation periods) or outside of peak traffic hours (roughly between the hours of about 7pm in the evening to about 6am in the morning).

Otherwise you are probably going to be dealing with some very heavy traffic.

Make sure to time your trip so that it does NOT occur between the hours of 6:30am to 9:30am (morning rush hours) and/or about 3pm to 7pm (afternoon/evening rush hour) on Monday through Friday when traffic will be the worst.

Rush-hour/peak-hour traffic will particularly be challenging across the I-285 Top End Perimeter (between Interstates 75 and 85 on the Northside), which is one of the stretches of roadway that you will have to travel on to get to where your daughter is staying in Dawsonville.

[Born 2 Roll]

Also, Saturdays (along with Sundays) can be hit-or-miss when it comes to traffic tie-ups because GDOT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) sometimes likes to ramp-up construction projects and road repairs on weekends.

So monitor the web for any construction projects that may affect your trip and plan accordingly.

[PKCorey]

The biggest issue will be 400 not 285. It's a few construction project going on right now.

[samiwas1]

285 on the west side, which you would deal with between union city and sandy springs, is rarely too bad. I commuted on that for a while, even at peak rush hour, and almost never had major issues. On the north end, it gets heavy in the morning.

[bu2]

When coming that way, my biggest problem is always the last 50 miles on I-65 heading into Montgomery!

Depending on the time of day, as mentioned above, you may prefer getting on I-75 north off 285 instead of heading over to 400. Then take 575 before working your way east on 53. During peak hour the northern section of 285 and 400 are very congested.

From 7pm-7am and between roughly 9am and 3pm, your suggested route is probably best.

[Mobilemom52]

I foresee a lot of very early morning departures from Mobile in my future. Or carefully timed flights, as I'd still have to fight my way north.

Thanks for all the good advice.

[arjay57]

It's best to avoid morning and evening rush hour -- and it goes in all directions, not just into to the city -- but otherwise you should be okay. Atlanta traffic generally moves along pretty well.

[ATLTJL]

It's best to come through around 2:30am.

But sometimes there's traffic then, too. (really!)