Drive times with traffic? (Atlanta, Marietta: live in, moving to, ferry)

[ATLnewcomer]

I'm planning on moving to the Atlanta area in one month. I really don't want to fight ATL traffic on the daily, so what I would like to know is the drive times to the following areas from the 75/285 interchange:

Austel
Mableton
Marietta
Acworth
Kennesaw

Also, how bad is the 75/285 interchange during rush hour?

Just a reminder, I really want to know the times during rush hour, because I'm assuming I'll be driving in it daily. My office will be located just north on 75 on Powers Ferry Rd. I'll probably be taking the Windy Hill Rd exit.

Thanks to anyone for the help!

[rackensack]

That's really tough to answer, because much depends on specifically where in each of those locations you'll be driving from. For instance, the area around the 75/285 interchange is considered "Marietta"; then again, so are areas out along Burnt Hickory Road out toward Due West Road -- that's 30 minutes difference without taking traffic into consideration.

In the Atlanta area, anything that involves a major road and at least one additional major road or significant secondary road takes at least 20 minutes, and at least 40 minutes at rush hour. Additional distance just adds to that time.

If you don't want to spend time sitting in traffic, forget Austell, Acworth, Mableton, and Kennesaw. At rush hour, from any of those areas, you will be fighting traffic for a significant amount of time. Consider East Cobb County, or Vinings/Smyrna. They're close enough that you won't make yourself too crazy.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by ATLnewcomer

I'm planning on moving to the Atlanta area in one month. I really don't want to fight ATL traffic on the daily, so what I would like to know is the drive times to the following areas from the 75/285 interchange:

Austell -- Maybe 20-25 mins if you take the Paces Ferry exit and then take Cumberland Parkway directly or take Atlanta Road south to Cumberland Parkway (which turns into the E/W Connector as it goes west).

Of course, it depends on the precise location within Austell that you're heading for. The intersection of Austell Road and the E/W Connector can be quite busy during rush hour, also.

Mableton -- 15-20 mins tops using the same route. It isn't very far from Paces Ferry to Cooper Lake Road (where I live) or Fontaine Road, and the latter takes you directly into the heart of Mableton. 10 miles, maybe? You could also take 285 south to Veteran's Memorial Highway and take that west into Mableton.

Marietta -- I would think this depends on the route you take. The three options that come to mind are I-75 itself, Cumberland Blvd (aka US Highway 41), and Atlanta Road. I-75 can be the fastest or slowest depending on traffic. I could see this being a 15-20 minute trip most of the time, but again it depends on where in Marietta you want to go (some parts of East Cobb had a Marietta mailing address but are quite far away from the actual city of Marietta itself).

Acworth -- This can take a long time. I work near the Cumberland Mall, and that is fairly close to the 75/285 intersection, and my boss lives in Acworth. He telecommutes 3-4 days a week for a reason. Sometimes it'll take him an hour to get into work.

Kennesaw -- Not sure. Maybe Marietta time plus 10 mins?

I would consider using Google Maps or a similar tool to get some idea of locations and possible routes. I-285 south is generally not too bad on a normal day (I drive over it so I can see), but as I said I-75 can sometimes get pretty ugly. The nice thing about Mableton and Smyrna is the fact that you can get to them via multiple routes which don't involve interstates.

Also, how bad is the 75/285 interchange during rush hour?

In the evening I know northbound I-75 can sometimes clog things up, but I really don't drive anywhere on the interstates during rush hour.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by rackensack

If you don't want to spend time sitting in traffic, forget Austell, Acworth, Mableton, and Kennesaw. At rush hour, from any of those areas, you will be fighting traffic for a significant amount of time. Consider East Cobb County, or Vinings/Smyrna. They're close enough that you won't make yourself too crazy.

Depends on where in Mableton you're talking about.

Traffic flow on the E/W Connector east of Austell Road is generally not bad at all during rush hour (though getting to it might be a challenge at certain times), and there are multiple ways to get from there to 285 if that is your goal (Vet Mem Hwy, South Cobb, Atlanta Road, or Paces Ferry).

[ATLnewcomer]

To be a little more accurate, about 2 miles north of the 75/285 interchange, like the Windy Hills exit.
So if I were to consider Mableton or Austell, I believe I'd have to the 285 South. It looks to be about 35 minutes with traffic (according to Google Maps), but I would like firsthand info! Thanks for the insight and keep it coming!

[Zimbochick]

My husband works in Windy Hill, and we live in NE Cobb in Marietta, near HWY 92 and Sandy Plains Road, and it takes him about 40 minutes, but that is no freeway travel, and their are a lot of alternative routes to choose from. When we were looking, none of the map sites represented the Atlanta commute times accurately. For our particualr searches we added 10-15 minutes, and found that to be more accurate. We looked at Acworth, but that commute is a real nightmare.