Interstate 85 in Georgia

Interstate 85
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length:	179.9 mi[1] (289.5 km)
Existed:	1960[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I‑85 at the Alabama state line
	I‑185 near LaGrange I‑285 in College Park I‑75 in Atlanta I‑20 in Atlanta I‑75 in Atlanta SR 400 in Atlanta I‑285 near Doraville SR 316 near Lawrenceville I‑985 in Suwanee
North end:	I-85 at the South Carolina state line
Location
Counties:	Harris, Troup, Meriwether, Coweta, Fulton, Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Barrow, Jackson, Banks, Franklin, Hart
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Georgia State Routes Interstate U.S. State Former ← SR 84 SR 85 → ← SR 402 SR 403 SR 404 →

Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway that travels northeast-to-southwest in the U.S. state of Georgia. It enters the state at the Alabama state line near West Point, and Lanett, Alabama, traveling through the Atlanta metropolitan area and to the South Carolina state line, where it crosses the Savannah River near Lake Hartwell. I-85 connects northern Georgia with Montgomery, Alabama, to the southwest, and with South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia to the northeast. Within Georgia, I-85 is also designated as the unsigned State Route 403 (SR 403).

I-85 in Georgia usually travels roughly parallel with the route of U.S. Route 29 (US 29). However, from Atlanta northeast to South Carolina, I-85 ventures away from that route, traveling about halfway between US 29 and the combination of US 23 and US 123.

Within the City of Atlanta, I-85 has a concurrency with I-75 known as the "Downtown Connector". After splitting from Downtown Connector, it is known as Northeast Expressway until its junction with I-285 (Atlanta's perimeter).

Route description

Alabama state line to Interstate 185

I-85 undergoing repairs near the Alabama state line

I-85 enters the state of Georgia from Alabama via twin bridges over the Chattahoochee River, and then it immediately skirts the town of West Point, with Kia's multibillion-dollar plant located adjacent to the freeway just east of West Point. After leaving West Point, I-85 enters the LaGrange area, the first large town in Georgia on its route to the northeast. Northeast of LaGrange, I-85 has an interchange with the long spur freeway, I-185, to the Columbus, Georgia Metropolitan Area. This is the only connection between Columbus and the Interstate Highway System.

From Interstate 185 through Atlanta

From LaGrange, I-85 heads northeastward towards Atlanta. Before reaching Atlanta, the highway runs through a recently widened stretch that includes six to eight lanes between exits 35 and 77, passing near the suburbs of Moreland, Newnan, Fairburn, Union City, College Park and East Point as well as intersecting I-285 at its southwest end and providing access to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. I-85 then runs along the northwestern boundary of the airport, providing access to the domestic terminal. (This airport is bounded on all sides by I-85, I-75, and I-285, all of which provide highway access to the airport.)

At the southwestern edge of Atlanta's city limits, I-85 merges with I-75 to form the Downtown Connector, which is 12 to 14 lanes wide. At the southern edge of downtown Atlanta, this freeway has an interchange with the major east-west Interstate Highway, I-20. The two freeways then skirt the eastern edge of downtown, running due north, passing through the Georgia Tech campus and the Atlantic Station section of Atlanta before the two highways split, with I-75 exits via the right three lanes and then heads northwest while I-85 uses the left three lanes and then heads northeast.

I-75 and I-85 signs near downtown Atlanta

Atlanta to South Carolina state line

Heading northbound after the Brookwood Interchange with I-75, I-85 is routed along a ten lane wide viaduct from the Buford Highway Connector (exit 86) to State Route 400 (SR 400, exit 87). Continuing northeast of Atlanta, I-85 continues through the northeastern suburbs, bypassing Chamblee and Doraville, where there is another intersection with I-285 (nicknamed Spaghetti Junction). The Interstate then travels through the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta, including Lilburn, Duluth, Lawrenceville. The Interstate has freeway interchanges with SR 316 in Norcross and I-985 in Suwanee, which provides a link to Gainesville. I-85 then leaves the Atlanta area, continuing to travel through rural northeast Georgia. At Lake Hartwell—which was formed by the damming of the Savannah River—I-85 crosses into South Carolina.

Express lanes

I-85 has the first and currently the only express lanes in Georgia, located in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties; they were originally HOV lanes. From Chamblee–Tucker Road (exit 94) to Old Peachtree Road (exit 109), travelers that utilize the converted 15.5-mile (24.9 km) lanes will be charged a toll varying from 10 to 90 cents per mile (6.2–55.9 ¢/km), depending on traffic conditions and usage. Though not signed on the freeway, they are HOT lanes, which means travelers with three or more occupants, vanpools, motorcycles, and buses are exempt from toll charges. Tolls are collected using an electronic toll collection system. All travelers that use the lane must have a Peach Pass sticker to avoid fines.^[3][4] Starting in November 2014, SunPass (Florida) and NC Quick Pass (North Carolina) are interoperable with Peach Pass, allowing motorists with those transponders to use the express lanes.

Funds generated from the express lanes will be used to defray the costs of construction, operations and maintenance of the lanes. Long term revenue allocation is being studied and a decision about future excess revenues will be made later in the project process.^[5]

Proponents for the express lanes say it is to provide commuters with a more reliable, free-flow commute option; complement the state’s multi-modal approach to managing traffic demand; and establish the vision for a future system of HOT lanes in the region.^[3] Detractors point out that existing infrastructure was reused for the express lanes and that commute times on the non-paying travel lanes have doubled since implementation.^[6][7]

History

Interstate 75 co-signed with Interstate 85 in Downtown Atlanta

Originally constructed as a four- to six-lane expressway in the 1950s, the stretch of I-85 between the southern merge with I-75 and North Druid Hills Road was reconstructed as part of the Georgia Department of Transportation's Freeing the Freeways program. This project included rebuilding all overpasses, new HOV-ready ramps (with the system implemented in 1996), and a widening of freeway capacity. Concurrent with this project was the construction of the Civic Center MARTA Station as part of the West Peachtree Street overpass, which opened in December 1981.

The 30-mile (48 km) section between LaGrange and Newnan was incomplete for a much-longer time that the rest of I-85 in Georgia and required a two-lane detour on Hwy 27 & Hwy 29 between those cities. The northern section between Newnan and Grantville was completed first, then the stretch further south to LaGrange was completed in 1977.^[8]

The portion of the highway from the Buford Highway Connector to SR 400 was constructed during the early 1980s, and was designed as a replacement for the original four-lane routing of I-85 (now SR 13). In addition, the new viaduct was designed to accommodate connections to the SR 400 tollway (then in planning), HOV lanes, and a bridge carrying the MARTA North Line (then under construction).^[9]

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.^[10][11]

On October 1, 2011, GDOT converted the 16.0-mile (25.7 km) HOV lanes in Northern Atlanta into express/HOT lanes.^[3]

From Atlanta, I-85 north was originally slated to be built through the city of Athens to provide an easy link between the capital city and the University of Georgia. However, then-Gov. Ernest Vandiver worked to make sure the highway traversed his home county of Franklin, a stretch that now bears his name. At the time, he promised equivalent access for Athens and Gainesville.^[12] It was not until the completion of SR 316 in the 1990s that there was finally a relatively quick, multi-lane expressway connecting Athens and Atlanta, (US 78 is also multi-lane between Athens and Atlanta but it is not expressway-grade) although SR 316 still is largely at-grade.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Alabama state line		0.0	0.0	I‑85 continues south into Alabama
Harris	No major junctions
Troup	West Point			1	2	SR 18 – West Point, Pine Mountain
	​				6	KIA Boulevard	Kia Car Plant
	​			2	13	SR 219 – LaGrange	To Pegasus Parkway, an industrial and recreational bypass around Downtown LaGrange.
	LaGrange			3	14	US 27 – LaGrange	SR 1 is unsigned with US 27
				4	18	SR 109 – Greenville, Warm Springs, LaGrange
	​			5	21	I‑185 south – Columbus	To Fort Benning
	Hogansville			6	28	SR 54 / SR 100 – Hogansville, Luthersville
Meriwether	No major junctions
Coweta	Grantville			7	35	US 29 – Grantville, Moreland	SR 14 is unsigned with US 29
	Newnan			8	41	US 27 Alt. / US 29 – Newnan, Moreland, Greenville	To SR 16
				9	47	SR 34 – Newnan, Peachtree City, Shenandoah	To business district
	​			10	51	SR 154 (McCollum-Sharpsburg Road)
	​			11	56	Collinsworth Road – Palmetto, Tyrone
Fulton	Fairburn			12	61	SR 74 – Fairburn, Peachtree City
	Union City			13	64	SR 138 – Union City, Jonesboro
	College Park			14	66	Flat Shoals Rd	To Georgia Military College
	​			15	68	I‑285 (Atlanta Bypass) – Birmingham, Chattanooga, International Terminal, Macon	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; split into I-285 north (Birmingham, Chattanooga) and I-285 east (International Terminal, Macon)
	​			16A	69A	SR 14 Conn. (South Fulton Parkway)
	College Park			16B	69B	SR 279 (Old National Highway)
				17	70	I‑285 – Macon, Birmingham, Chattanooga	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; to International Terminal
Clayton	​			18	71	SR 139 (Riverdale Road) – Domestic
Fulton	College Park			18A	72	To SR 6 west (Camp Creek Parkway) – Air Cargo, Domestic
	East Point			19	73	Virginia Avenue – Air Cargo, College Park	Signed as exits 73A (east) and 73B (west) northbound
				20	74	Loop Road – International	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Hapeville			21	75	Sylvan Road, Central Avenue – Hapeville
	Atlanta			22	76	Cleveland Avenue – East Point	To Atlanta Technical College
				23	77	US 19 / US 41 / SR 3 (Metropolitan Parkway)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				24	77	SR 166 (Langford Parkway)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				87		I‑75 south – International, Macon	Southern end of I-75 concurrency along the Downtown Connector; freeway uses I-75 mileposts and exit numbers; HOV lanes to and from I-75 to the south (no HOV ramps to or from I-85 to the south)
				88	243	SR 166 (Langford Parkway) – East Point
				89	244	University Avenue, Pryor Street
				90	245	Abernathy Boulevard, Capitol Avenue – Turner Field	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				91	246	Fulton Street, Central Avenue – Georgia State University, Turner Field
				92	247	I‑20 (Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway) – Augusta, Birmingham
				—	—	Memorial Drive	HOV ramps for northbound exit and southbound entrance
				93	248A	ML King Jr. Drive – State Capitol, Turner Field	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				94	248B	Edgewood Avenue, Auburn Avenue, J.W. Dobbs Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				96	248C	SR 10 east (Freedom Parkway) / Andrew Young Internationll Boulevard – Carter Center
				95	248D	Jesse Hill Drive, J.W. Dobbs Avenue, Edgewood Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				—	—	Piedmont Avenue	HOV ramps for northbound exit and southbound entrance
				97	249A	Courtland Street – Georgia State University	Southbound exit only
				98	249B	Pine Street, Peachtree Street – Civic Center	Northbound exit only
				99	249C	Williams Street – World Congress Center, Georgia Dome, Aquarium	No northbound exit; additional HOV ramps for southbound exit and northbound entrance
				100	249D	US 19 / US 29 (Spring Street, West Peachtree Street)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				100	249D	US 29 / US 78 / US 278 / SR 8 (North Avenue) – Georgia Tech	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				101	250	10th Street, 14th Street – Georgia Tech	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
					251A	17th Street – Midtown	Northbound exit only
				26	84	17th Street, 14th Street, 10th Street	Southbound exit only, to Georgia Tech
				27	85	I‑75 north – Marietta, Chattanooga	Northern end of I-75 concurrency along the Downtown Connector
				28	86	SR 13 north (Buford Hwy)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				—	—	Lindbergh Drive	HOV-only ramps; southbound exit and northbound entrance
				29	87	SR 400 north – Buckhead, Cumming	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				28	86	SR 400 north / SR 13 south – Buckhead, Cumming, to Peachtree Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				30	88	Cheshire Bridge Road/Lenox Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
DeKalb	​			31	89	SR 42 (North Druid Hills Road)	To Oglethorpe University
	​			32	91	US 23 / SR 155 (Clairmont Road)	To DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and Emory University
	​			33	93	Shallowford Road – Doraville	To Briarcliff Road
	​			34	94	Chamblee–Tucker Road, Mercer University
	​			35	95	I‑285 – Augusta, Macon, Chattanooga, Birmingham	Signed as exits 95A (east, Macon, Augusta) and 95B (west, Chattanooga, Birmingham) southbound
	​			36	96	Northcrest Road, Pleasantdale Road
Gwinnett	Norcross			37	99	SR 140 west (Jimmy Carter Boulevard)
				38	101	Indian Trail–Lilburn Road
	​			39	102	SR 378 (Beaver Ruin Road) – Lilburn
	​			39A	103	Steve Reynolds Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​			40	104	Pleasant Hill Road	Gwinnett Place Mall
	​			42	105	SR 120 – Duluth, Lawrenceville	Northbound exit only
	​			41	106	SR 316 east – Lawrenceville, Athens	No southbound exit; additional northbound exit and southbound entrance ramps for direct HOT/express lane access
	​			42	107	SR 120 to SR 316 east / Boggs Road – Duluth, Lawrenceville	Southbound exit only
	​				108	Sugarloaf Parkway	Southbound exit is combined with exit 109
	​			43	109	Old Peachtree Road
	​			44	111	SR 317 north – Suwanee
	​			45	113	I‑985 north (Lanier Parkway) – Gainesville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance, to Buford Dam and Lake Lanier Islands
	​			46	115	SR 20 – Lawrenceville, Buford	Mall of Georgia
	​			47	120	Hamilton Mill Road/Hamilton Mill Parkway
Barrow	Braselton			48	126	SR 211 – Winder
Jackson				49	129	SR 53 – Braselton, Hoschton, Winder
	Jefferson			50	137	US 129 / SR 11 – Gainesville, Jefferson
	​			51	140	SR 82 (Dry Pond Road/Holly Springs Road)
	Commerce			52	147	SR 98 – Commerce, Maysville
Banks	​			53	149	US 441 – Commerce, Homer, Banks Crossing
	​			54	154	SR 63 (Martin Bridge Road) – Toccoa
Franklin	​			55	160	SR 51 – Homer, Franklin Springs, Royston, Elberton
	​			56	164	SR 320 – Carnesville
	​			57	166	SR 106 / SR 145 – Carnesville, Toccoa
	Lavonia			58	173	SR 17 – Lavonia, Toccoa, Elberton
Hart	​			59	177	SR 77 south – Hartwell, Lake Hartwell
	South Carolina state line	179.9	289.5			I-85 north – Greenville	Continuation into South Carolina
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

Auxiliary routes

• I-185 is a spur from near LaGrange south to Columbus.
• I-285 is the busy beltway around Atlanta.
• I-485 was to run east and north from downtown Atlanta to the south end of SR 400, and then north along SR 400 to I-285.
• I-985 is a spur from near Buford northeast to Gainesville.

See also

• Georgia (U.S. state) portal
• U.S. Roads portal

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 May 5, 2016.
2. State Highway Department of Georgia (1960). State Highway System and Other Principal Connection Roads (PDF) (Map) (1960–61 ed.). Scale not given. Atlanta: State Highway Department of Georgia. OCLC 5673161. Retrieved July 12, 2016. (Corrected to June 1, 1960.)
3. Georgia Department of Transportation. "I-85 Express Lanes". Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
4. "100,000th Peach Pass Issued for Controversial HOT Lanes". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
5. Georgia Department of Transportation. "I-85 Express Lanes: FAQ". Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
6. McKee, Don. "Commuters getting hot about HOT lanes in metro Atlanta". The Marietta Daily Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
7. "HOT Lane Unhappiness: Some Drivers Say Congestion Worse". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
8. "I-85 completed between LaGrange & Grantville".
9. "State Route 13 Page". Peach State Roads. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2007.
10. Georgia Department of Transportation. "Georgia's Interstate Exit Numbers". Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
11. Georgia Department of Transportation. "Interstate 20 Exit Renumbering Page". Georgia Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
12. Lavender, Rick. "Interstate 85 Through Hall? It Very Nearly Was Gov. Ernest Vandiver Redirected Highway Plans in 1950s". The Times. Gainsville, GA. Retrieved May 5, 2016.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to Interstate 85 in Georgia at Wikimedia Commons