Atlanta Traffic Bad, Be Prepared if Moving Here!! (Marietta: living in, moving to)

[romeo kilo]

Friday afternoon, coming into Atlanta from the east on I-20 (with a final destination of Chattanooga), I arrived at the I-20/I-75 junction(east side of the city) at 3:48pm. (I could have taken the I-285 loop north off of I-20 eastbound towards Chattanooga, but WSB 750 (radio) said that it was in Gridlock Alert). So, I finally got to the I-75/I-575 junction which is approximately 25 miles north at 5:15pm. I personally think that the traffic in this city is terrible, from around 7:30am to 10:00am and 3:00pm til 6:30pm. It's worse when their is a major accident, like a vehicle on fire, or an overturned semi. I travel thru the city about once a week, and it is so frustrating ....I am just giving my view on traffic in the city for people considering moving to Atlanta. Look before you leap is all I am saying..Atlanta is a major US city with major traffic. This isn't your Daddys' sleepy little southern town. I don't live in Atlanta, so Atlantans, please jump in and straighten me out if you have a different view.

[PKCorey]

Umm, that is rush hour on a Friday, what did you really expect?

[romeo kilo]

PK, so the traffic is like that only on Friday afternoon during rush hour?

[PKCorey]

That's normal rush hour traffic.

You said you arrived at the downtown connector @ 3:50 ish...

Normal heavy and jammed up from 285 until 575/75 split, the couple times, I have been on that side of town.

It would have made more sense to jump onto 285 northbound. You would have only have to deal with slow traffic from GA400 until 75...

I"m just letting you know that was nothing out of the ordinary about your trip. Normal rush hour commute from downtown to Marietta

[DeaconJ]

Traffic is usually heavy on all of the major highways during the morning and afternoon rush. Other factors can affect the afternoon rush, like major gatherings/sporting events/conventions/festivals/etc....or heavy travel holidays...or accidents...and Friday afternoons are the worst - it starts early and stays late. Sometimes rush hour is a breeze, but sometimes it's a mess - and it's hard to predict.

The best thing to do is avoid driving through or around Atlanta from around 3:00 until 7:00, but if you can't do that then look for alternate routes. 75-85 or 285 aren't you only choices for traveling through Atlanta.

[lastminutemom]

Fridays are absolutely the worse and that isn't just in ATL but in most major metro areas that have traffic issues.

[brook2ga]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Fridays are absolutely the worse and that isn't just in ATL but in most major metro areas that have traffic issues.

exactly! NYC isn't a picnic either

[gerrynyc]

Originally Posted by brookdaleresident

exactly! NYC isn't a picnic either

It is not as bad as ATL's traffic...trust me. NYC has so many highways, and expressways, and parkways, you can get somewhere more than one way
I live in NYC...i am astonished everytime I visit ATL.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by gerrynyc

It is not as bad as ATL's traffic...trust me. NYC has so many highways, and expressways, and parkways, you can get somewhere more than one way
I live in NYC...i am astonished everytime I visit ATL.

Hmmm...agreed that you can find alternate routes in NYC as opposed to Atlanta where you might be stuck on GA400 or similar routes, but as one who has been stuck in Manhattan gridlock, there aren't too many alternate routes for gridlock. There is nothing like being stuck at a tunnel or bridge for 15, 30min or more waiting to get across the river.

Bottom line is that Atlanta is the 8th largest metro area, and like any large city there will be traffic. Sometimes and in some places that traffic is bad here, but it's really no worse than some expressways and routes in other places. Living in a big city means big city traffic. If that's not what you want, then you probably should look to live in a smaller city or the country, or live and work where you can take MARTA.

[Sweet Atlanta Peach]

Okay, so Atlanta has traffic problems during FRIDAY AFTERNOON RUSH HOUR. What else is new.