Interstate 20 in Georgia

Interstate 20
Route information
Maintained by Georgia DOT
Length:	202.61 mi[1][2] (326.07 km)
Existed:	1963[3] – present
Major junctions
West end:	I‑20 at Alabama state line
	US 27 / SR 1 near Bremen I‑285 in Atlanta I‑75 / I‑85 in Atlanta US 23 / SR 42 in Atlanta I‑285 near Panthersville US 278 / SR 12 from Lithonia to Covington US 129 / US 441 / SR 24 south of Madison US 221 / SR 47 north of Harlem I‑520 / SR 232 in Augusta
East end:	I-20 at South Carolina state line in Augusta
Location
Counties:	Haralson, Carroll, Douglas, Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Rockdale, Newton, Walton, Morgan, Greene, Taliaferro, Warren, McDuffie, Columbia, Richmond
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Georgia State Routes Interstate U.S. State Former ← SR 19 SR 20 → ← SR 401 SR 402 SR 403 →

In the U.S. state of Georgia, Interstate 20 (I-20) travels from the Alabama state line to the Savannah River, which the Georgia–South Carolina state line straddles. The highway enters the state near Tallapoosa. It travels through the Atlanta metropolitan area and exits the state in Augusta. The highway also travels through the cities of Douglasville, Covington, and Thomson. I-20 has the unsigned state highway designation of State Route 402 (SR 402).

Route description

I-20 is four lanes wide in much of the state. In the Atlanta metropolitan area, the highway ranges from six lanes wide in the most outlying counties to 10 lanes wide in downtown Atlanta.

I-20 enters the Peach State near Tallapoosa and after traveling through Western Georgia, it enters the Atlanta metropolitan area. On clear days, eastbound motorists get their first view of downtown Atlanta as they crest the top of Six Flags Hill. The Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park is easily visible off exit 46 eastbound. In Atlanta, the highway travels through the heart of the city, crossing I-75/I-85, which share a common expressway (the "Downtown Connector"). It continues though Metropolitan Atlanta eastward and through the eastern half of Georgia until it exits the state, crossing the Savannah River at Augusta.

Several stretches of I-20 are named for various people and reasons:

• From the Alabama state line to I-285 on the west side of Atlanta, I-20 is named the Tom Murphy Freeway, after the former speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives.^[4][5]
• Between both the west and east sides of I-285, I-20 was named the Ralph David Abernathy Freeway in 1991 after the late civil rights activist.^[6]
• From I-285 in Dekalb County to US 129/US 441/SR 24 south of Madison, I-20 is named the Purple Heart Highway for military veterans who either died or were injured in combat while in service on or after April 15, 1917.^[7]
• Between US 129/US 441/SR 24 and the South Carolina state line, I-20 is named the Carl Sanders Highway after the former Georgia governor who was born in Augusta.^[8]

History

I-20 eastbound at I-520 interchange. Flyover ramp under construction for I-20 westbound to I-520 eastbound

Although the designation does not appear on shields, Georgia DOT refers to the highway as SR 402

Within Georgia, the first segment of I-20 opened between Downtown Atlanta to Conyers, Georgia. The last part of the highway opened in 1977 or 1978 between Alabama state line to Villa Rica, Georgia^[9][10]

Until 2000, the state of Georgia used the sequential interchange numbering system on all of its Interstate Highways. The first exit on each highway would begin with the number "1" and increase numerically with each exit. In 2000, the Georgia Department of Transportation switched to a mileage-based exit system, in which the exit number corresponded to the nearest milepost.^[11][12][13]

From the Alabama state line to Villa Rica, I-20 is currently being widened from four to six lanes in ultimate plans to widen to at least six lanes from Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta. Some sections are currently under construction.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Haralson	​					I‑20 west – Birmingham	Continuation into Alabama
	​			1	5	SR 100 – Tallapoosa, Bowdon
	​			2	9	Waco Road
Carroll	​			3	11	US 27 – Bremen, Carrollton
	​			4	19	SR 113 – Carrollton, Temple
	Villa Rica			5	24	SR 61 / SR 101 – Carrollton, Villa Rica
Douglas	​			6	26	Liberty Road – Villa Rica	Signed as (GA Conn 8), but not from I-20 itself.
	​			7	30	Post Road
	Douglasville			8	34	SR 5 – Douglasville
				9	36	Chapel Hill Road
				10	37	SR 92 (Fairburn Road) – Douglasville
	​			11	41	Lee Road – Lithia Springs
	​			12	44	SR 6 (Thornton Road) – Austell
Cobb	​			13	46	Six Flags Drive, Riverside Parkway	Signed as exits 46A (Riverside Parkway) and 46B (Six Flags Drive) westbound
	​			13C	47	Six Flags Parkway	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Fulton	​			14	49	SR 70 (Fulton Industrial Boulevard)
	Atlanta			15	51	I‑285 – Macon, Montgomery, Chattanooga, Greenville	I-285 exits 10A-B; signed as exits 51A (south) and 51B (north).
				16	52	SR 280 (Hamilton E. Holmes Drive)	Signed as exits 52A (south) and 52B (north) westbound
				17	53	SR 139 (Martin Luther King Jr. Drive)
				18	54	Langhorn Street to Cascade Road	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				19	55A	Lowery Boulevard – West End
				20	55B	Lee Street – Atlanta University Center, Fort McPherson	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				21	56A	US 19 / US 29 (McDaniel Street)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				22	56B	Windsor Street, Spring Street – Turner Field
				23	57	I‑75 / I‑85 – Macon, Montgomery, Chattanooga, Greenville, Charlotte	I-75 / I-85 Exit 247
				24	58A	Capitol Avenue – Downtown Atlanta	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				25	58B	Hill Street – Turner Field	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				26	59A	Boulevard – Zoo Atlanta, Cyclorama
				27	59B	Memorial Drive, Glenwood Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Fulton–DeKalb county line				28	60	US 23 (Moreland Avenue)	Signed as exits 60A (south) and 60B (north) eastbound
DeKalb				29	61A	Maynard Terrace	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				30	61B	SR 260 (Glenwood Avenue)
				31	62	Flat Shoals Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	​			32	63	Gresham Road, Flat Shoals Road
	​			33	65	SR 155 (Candler Road) – Decatur
	​			34	66	Columbia Drive	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	​			35	67	I‑285 – Macon, Chattanooga, Greenville	I-285 south exit 46, north exits 46A-B; signed as exits 67A (south) and 67B (north) westbound.
	​			36	68	Wesley Chapel Road, Snapfinger Road
	​			37	71	Panola Road
	​			38	74	Evans Mill Road, Lithonia Industrial Boulevard – Lithonia
	​			39	75	US 278 west / SR 124 (Turner Hill Road)	West end of US 278 overlap
Rockdale	​			40	78	Sigman Road
	Conyers			41	80	West Avenue – Conyers
				42	82	SR 20 / SR 138 – Conyers, Monroe
	​			43	84	SR 162 (Salem Road)
Newton	​			44	88	Almon Road – Porterdale
	Covington			45	90	US 278 east – Covington, Oxford	East end of US 278 overlap
				45A	92	Alcovy Road
	​			46	93	SR 142 – Hazelbrand, Oxford, Covington
	​			47	98	SR 11 – Monroe, Monticello, Social Circle
	​			48	101	US 278
Walton	No major junctions
Morgan	​			49	105	Newborn Road – Newborn, Rutledge
	​			50	113	SR 83 – Madison, Monticello
	​			51	114	US 129 / US 441 – Madison, Eatonton
	​			52	121	Seven Islands Road – Buckhead
Greene	​			53	130	SR 44 (Lake Oconee Parkway) – Eatonton
	Siloam			54	138	SR 15 / SR 77 – Siloam, Union Point, Sparta, Greensboro
Taliaferro	​			55	148	SR 22 – Crawfordville, Sparta, Mayfield
Warren	​			56	154	US 278 – Warrenton, Washington
	​			57	160	Cadley Norwood Road – Norwood
	​			58	165	SR 80 – Camak
McDuffie	​			—	169	Thomson
	​			59	172	SR 17 – Thomson, Washington
	​			60	175	SR 150
Columbia	​			61	183	US 221 / SR 47	Only signed as US 221
	​			62	190	SR 388 – Grovetown
	Evans			63	194	SR 383 (Belair Road/Jimmie Dyess Parkway) – Evans
Richmond	Augusta			63A	195	Wheeler Road
				64	196	I‑520 east / SR 232 west (Bobby Jones Expressway)	I-520 north exit 1, south exits 1A-B; signed as exits 196A (east) and 196B (west) eastbound
				—	197	Walton Way Extension	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				65	199	SR 28 (Washington Road) – Augusta
				66	200	SR 104 (River Watch Parkway) – Augusta
						I-20 east – Columbia	Continuation into South Carolina
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• Georgia (U.S. state) portal
• Atlanta portal
• U.S. Roads portal
• Transportation in Atlanta
• Central Savannah River Area

References

1. Adderly, Kevin (January 27, 2016). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of December 31, 2015". Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
2. "Interstate 20". Interstate-Guide.com. Interstate Guide. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
3. State Highway Department of Georgia (1963). State Highway System and Other Principal Connection Roads (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Atlanta: State Highway Department of Georgia. OCLC 5673161. Retrieved July 10, 2016. (Corrected to June 1, 1963.)
4. "Tom Murphy (1924–2007)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
5. "Tom Murphy Freeway: Designated" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. July 18, 1991. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
6. "Ralph David Abernathy Freeway: Designated" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. April 18, 1991. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
7. "Purple Heart Highway: Designated" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. April 8, 1996. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
8. "Carl Sanders Highway: Designated" (PDF). Georgia Department of Transportation. February 15, 1996. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
9. Georgia Department of Transportation (January 1977). Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1977–78 ed.). Scale not given. Atlanta: Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
10. Georgia Department of Transportation (January 1979). Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Atlanta: Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
11. Phillips, Noelle (November 29, 1999). "State Will Change Interstate Exit Numbers in January". SavannahNOW. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
12. Noelle Phillips (December 1, 1999). "Interstate Exit Signs to Get New Numbers in Georgia". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
13. Ben Deck (January 16, 2000). "DOT to Change Interstate Exit Numbers". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved October 18, 2014.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

Media related to Interstate 20 in Georgia at Wikimedia Commons

• Georgia @ SouthEastRoads.com - Interstate 20
• Georgia Navigator — Georgia DOT site with real-time traffic information; includes traffic cameras within metro Atlanta area
• I-20 Augusta Real-Time Traffic Information — Georgia DOT site with real-time traffic information for I-20/I-520 Augusta construction area
• Georgia DOT news and information about I-20/I-520 upgrades in Richmond and Columbia counties