Driving Knoxville TN to Madison GA - Traffic Question (Atlanta: area, worth)

[hancock52]

Hello, we will be driving from Knoxville down to Madison GA on either a Friday or Saturday. Is there a better time of day to take I75 south on a workday; I know it gets pretty busy on that road down by Atlanta. We will be leaving Knoxville area around 11 a.m. Looking at MapQuest, I assume we need to take I75 straight down to I20. Any alternate routes people know of would be appreciated that might be easier . Thank you so much.

[AUGnative]

I don't think you should really have any issues if you are driving on a Saturday.. but if you hit Atlanta during Rush hour then you could experience some delays.

The only alternate route I can think of is taking I40 to Asheville, then take I26 and hwy 25 towards Greenville, SC picking up I85 south, then take US 441 South thru Athens and then about 30 iles to Madison. I doubt this would save you any time but it is a scenic drive.. might be worth considering on the drive back just to change things up. Also Athens, Greenville and Asheville are nice stops along the way.

Another option is getting off I75 In Calhoun and taking Hw 53 East to Gainesville, then picking up Hwy 129 SE to Athens, then its a short hop n Hwy 441 south to Madison. Again, this may not really save you any time, but it takes you completely out of the way of Atlanta and traffic, and is a pretty scenic drive. I always use the WAZE or Google Traffic app to recommend alternate routes and make me aware of any traffic issues. I will say that Friday afternoon rush hours are the worst in Atlanta but if you are travelling Saturday I would not expect you would have any issues.

[sedimenjerry]

Don't do Friday. Afternoon rush hour starts around 1 or so and you'll be in plenty of traffic by 2-3 pm.

[hancock52]

Thank you both...