Stone Mountain Freeway

Stone Mountain Freeway
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length: 10.1 mi[1] (16.3 km)
Existed: 1970[2][3] – present
Component
highways:		 US 78 / SR 410 from northeast of Decatur to northeast of Stone Mountain Park
SR 10 from north of Stone Mountain to northeast of Stone Mountain Park
Major junctions
West end: US 29 / US 78 / SR 8 in Scottdale
  I‑285 in Scottdale
East end: US 78 / SR 10 northeast of Stone Mountain Park
Location
Counties: DeKalb, Gwinnett
Highway system
  • Georgia State Routes
← SR 409SR 411 →

Stone Mountain Freeway is a freeway in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It connects Interstate 285 (I-285) on the east side of Atlanta, with the suburbs of Stone Mountain and Snellville before transitioning into an arterial road that continues to Athens. The freeway is signed as U.S. Route 78 for its entire length, with the western half known as unsigned State Route 410 (SR 410), and the eastern half also being signed as SR 10. It begins at the US 29/US 78 split northeast of Decatur, and continues east through eastern DeKalb and southern Gwinnett counties.

Route description

Stone Mountain Freeway begins at an interchange with US 29/SR 8 (Lawrenceville Highway) in Scottdale, a suburb east of Atlanta, within DeKalb County. There is no access to US 29/SR 8 north from Stone Mountain Freeway or to Stone Mountain Freeway from US 29/SR 8 south. Southwest of this interchange, US 29/US 78/SR 8 head toward Decatur. Stone Mountain Freeway travels to the northeast, concurrent with US 78 and unsigned SR 410. The three highways have a partial interchange with Valley Brook Road and North Druid Hills Road. Just before leaving Scottdale is an interchange with Interstate 285 (I-285). They pass north of Clarkston and enter Tucker. They have an interchange with Brockett Road and Cooledge Road and then Mountain Industrial Boulevard. After leaving Tucker, they have an interchange with SR 10 (Memorial Drive). At this interchange, SR 410 meets its eastern terminus, and SR 10 begins its concurrency with US 78 and Stone Mountain Freeway. They have an interchange with SR 236 (Hugh Howell Road). A little bit later is an access road to Stone Mountain Park's main entrance. Right after the park, the highways enter Gwinnett County and have a partial interchange with Park Place Boulevard and Rockbridge Road. Just to the east of this interchange, the freeway ends and US 78/SR 10 continue to the east called Stone Mountain Highway.[1]

West of I-285, the speed limit is 55 miles per hour (89 km/h). East of the junction with I-285, the limit rises to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). Unlike Georgia's Interstate highways, the highway still has actual sequential exit numbers, rather than being mileage-based.

All of Stone Mountain Freeway is included as part of the National Highway System, a system of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.[4]

History

Stone Mountain Freeway was under construction in 1967 along the same alignment as it runs today.[5][6] By 1970, the highway was completed.[2][3]

Controversy

The Stone Mountain Freeway shares state route number 10 with Freedom Parkway, a 2-mile-long (3.2 km) road in central Atlanta that connects with the Interstate Highway System at a major interchange on the Downtown Connector. As that designation suggests, state officials originally intended the Stone Mountain Freeway to continue west, through Decatur, Druid Hills, and Candler Park, to downtown Atlanta. In pursuit of those plans, in 1969 the GDOT purchased an X-shaped swath of land designed to carry two roads: Interstate 485, running from east to west, and another freeway connecting what are now SR 400 to the north and Interstate 675 to the south.

Neighborhood groups and local preservationists worked together to block road construction of the highways. After 20 years of litigation and political maneuvering, community groups and state and local officials in 1991 compromised and set much of the state-purchased right of way aside as parkland, later named Freedom Park. The land proposed as the interchange of the two cancelled highways, by then, had become the site of the Carter Center.

Freedom Parkway – the last vestige of the planned downtown link of the Stone Mountain Freeway – opened in 1994.[7]

Exit list

CountyLocationmi[1]kmExitDestinationsNotes
DeKalbScottdale0.00.0 US 29 south / US 78 west / SR 8 south (Lawrenceville Highway) – Decatur, TuckerWestbound exit and eastbound entrance; western terminus of unsigned SR 410; western end of US 78 & SR 410 concurrencies
0.50.81Valley Brook Road / North Druid Hills RoadWestbound exit and eastbound entrance
 1.01.62 I‑285 – Greenville, Chattanooga, Augusta, MaconI-285, exit 39
Tucker2.54.03Brockett Road / Cooledge Road
4.67.44Mountain Industrial Boulevard
 6.810.95 SR 10 west (Memorial Drive) – Stone MountainWestern end of SR 10 concurrency, eastern terminus of unsigned SR 410; eastern end of SR 410 concurrency
 8.213.27 SR 236 north (Hugh Howell Road) – TuckerSouthern terminus of SR 236
 9.014.58Stone Mountain Park main entrance
Gwinnett 10.116.39Park Place Boulevard / Rockbridge RoadWestbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastern end of US 78 & SR 10 concurrencies; roadway continues as US 78/SR 10 (Stone Mountain Highway).
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Route map: Bing / Google

  1. 1 2 3 Google (September 9, 2013). "Route of Stone Mountain Freeway" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Georgia State Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by GSHD. Georgia State Highway Department. January 1, 1969. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Georgia State Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by GSHD. Georgia State Highway Department. January 1, 1970. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ "National Highway System: Atlanta, GA" (PDF). United States Department of Transportation. October 1, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  5. ↑ Georgia State Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by GSHD. Georgia State Highway Department. January 1, 1967. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ Georgia State Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by GSHD. Georgia State Highway Department. January 1, 1968. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  7. ↑ Hotchkiss, Judy, "Long-awaited roadway opening in late summer." Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 9, 1994, at E13.
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