Interstate 75 in Georgia

In the U.S. state of Georgia, Interstate 75 runs north–south along the U.S. Route 41 corridor on the western side of the state, passing through the cities of Valdosta, Macon and Atlanta. It is also designated — but not signed — as State Route 401. In downtown Atlanta, I-75 joins with Interstate 85 as the Downtown Connector.

Route description

Interstate 75 enters Georgia near Valdosta, and it continues northward through the towns of Tifton and Cordele until it reaches the Macon area, where it intersects with Interstate 16 eastbound towards Savannah. For northbound traffic wishing to avoid potential congestion in Macon, Interstate 475 provides a relatively straight bypass west of that city and Interstate 75's route. After Macon it passes the small town of Forsyth. The freeway reaches no major junctions again until in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The first metropolitan freeway met is Interstate 675, then followed by the Atlanta "Perimeter" bypass, Interstate 285. It crosses inside the Perimeter and heads northeast several miles towards the Atlanta city center. Interstate 75 is then duplexed with Interstate 85 due north over the Downtown Connector through the central business district of Atlanta. After the two Interstates split, Interstate 75 makes a beeline northwest, crossing outside the Interstate 285 Perimeter and heading towards the major suburban city of Marietta. This section of Interstate 75 just north of Interstate 285 has 15 through lanes, making it the widest roadway anywhere in the Interstate Highway System.^[2] North of Marietta, the final major junction in the Atlanta metropolitan area is the Interstate 575 spur. Interstate 75 then traverses the hilly northwestern Georgia terrain as it travels towards Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The 180-mile section of I-75 from I-475 to Interstate 24 in Chattanooga is one of the longest continuous six-lane freeways in the United States (some segments along this corridor have as many as 16 lanes).

Due to recent widening in south Georgia, the only four-lane section of I-75 in Georgia is bypassed by six-lane I-475; along this route there are at least six lanes from Florida's Turnpike in Wildwood, Florida to I-24 in Chattanooga.

Lane configurations

Total lane mileage in Georgia is 2,144.71 miles (3,451.58 km)

• from Florida State line to milepost 103 near Cordele (3 lanes each way)
• from milepost 103 to I-475 (Exit 156) (3 lanes each way, undergoing widening from Sardis Church Road overpass to I-475)
• from I-475 to I-16 (Exit 165) (3 lanes each way)
• from I-16 to I-475 (Exit 177) (2 lanes each way)
• from I-475 (Exit 177) to the southern city limits of Forsyth (4 NB, 3 SB)
• within Forsyth (4 lanes each way)
• from the northern city limits of Forsyth to I-675 (Exit 227) (3 lanes each way)
• from I-675 to I-285 (Exit 238) (4 lanes each way)
• from I-285 to I-85/Langford Pkwy interchange (mile 242) (5 lanes each way, including HOV)
• I-75/85 Common Section or "Downtown Connector" (7-8 lanes each way, including HOV)
• from I-85/Brookwood Interchange (mile 251) to I-285 (Exit 259) (5 lanes each way, including HOV)
• from I-285 to I-575 (Exit 268) (5-7 lanes each way, more closer to 285, with 8 NB lanes just north of Windy Hill Road (exit 260))
• from I-575 to Barrett Parkway/Kennesaw (Exit 269) (4 lanes each way)
• from Barrett Parkway/Kennesaw to Tennessee State line (3 lanes each way, a few climbing lanes on longer hills)

Auxiliary routes

• Interstate 175 was a proposed spur from Cordele southwest to Albany. The road was built, but not as a freeway; it is State Route 300, the Georgia-Florida Parkway.
• Interstate 475 is a western bypass of Macon, shortening the trip for through I-75 traffic.
• Interstate 575 is a spur from near Marietta north to Nelson.
• Interstate 675 is a cutoff from I-75 south of Atlanta north to Interstate 285 - Atlanta's perimeter - east of I-75.

History

In 1998, The portion of I-75 that runs from the Chattahoochee River northward to the Tennessee state line was named the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway. Larry McDonald, a conservative Democratic representative to Congress was aboard Korean Air Lines Flight 007 when it was shot down by the Soviets on Sept. 1, 1983. He was the only sitting Congressman to be reportedly killed by the Soviets during the Cold War.

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.^[3][4]

In March 2007, I-75 in Atlanta (the HOV ramp serving Northside Drive) was the site of the 2007 Atlanta I-75 Charter Bus Accident.

Exit list

Exits are numbered from south to north, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines.

References