Downtown Connector

Interstate 75/85 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Downtown Connector James Wendell George Parkway Maintained by Georgia DOT
Length:	7.4 mi[citation needed] (11.91 km)
Formed:	early 1950s
South end:	I-75 / I-85 towards Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Major junctions:	SR 166 in Atlanta I-20 in Atlanta
North end:	I-75 / I-85 near Buckhead
Georgia State Routes

In Atlanta, Georgia, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (pronounced "seventy-five eighty-five") is the overlapped connector of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city. Beginning at the I-85/Langford Parkway interchange, the Downtown Connector runs generally due north, meeting the east–west Interstate 20 in the middle. Just north of this is the Grady Curve around Grady Memorial Hospital. Continuing north, the terminus of the Downtown Connector is the Brookwood Interchange or Brookwood Split in the Brookwood area of the city. The overall length of the Downtown Connector is approximately seven and one-half miles.

Since the 2000's, it has been officially named James Wendell George Parkway for most of its length, although it is still designated the Connector in the mainstream.

The highway was constructed in the early 1950s as a six-lane thoroughfare, and was numbered State Route 295,^[1] and was slated to carry U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 41 at one point.^[2] The route was heavily reconstructed during the 1980s as part of the Freeing the Freeways program to widen Atlanta-area Interstates. Today the highway carries as many as 16 lanes of traffic in some sections, placing it among the widest roads in the world. In addition to the general purpose lanes, there is a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction for the entire length of the highway. The proposed Interstate 485 was originally planned by the Georgia Department of Transportation to carry some north-south traffic through the eastern side of the city, but most of this was canceled in the 1970s under Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia. (Parts of that road are now Interstate 675 and State Route 400.)

The Downtown Connector carries more than 323,000 vehicles per day at its busiest point — between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Edgewood Avenue, while no portion of the Downtown Connector carries fewer than 236,000 vehicles per day.^[3] The area around the connector and associated interchanges are considered one of the 10 most congested stretches of interstate in the U.S.[1] Due to this fact, many motorists often compare Atlanta to Los Angeles, which is also known for its notoriously-congested freeway system.

The highway is fully instrumented with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices. There are 39 closed-circuit television cameras between the Langford Parkway interchange (south end) and the Brookwood Interchange (north end). Additionally, the Downtown Connector has three large overhead electronic message signs, and four smaller HOV-dedicated message signs on the median barrier wall. Traffic flow data is gathered through a video detection system, using pole-mounted black-and-white cameras spaced every 1/3 mile on both sides of the roadway. All video and data is fed into the Georgia Department of Transportation's Transportation Management Center (TMC), via fiber optic cable located under the shoulders of the roadway.

Atlanta's skyline, both Downtown and Midtown, can be seen from the highway, especially at the northern and southern ends. The route also goes directly past Turner Field, formerly Centennial Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field events were held for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics.

Gallery

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North end of the Downtown Connector where I-75 and I-85 converge in Midtown	Downtown Connector view of the Downtown skyline	Downtown Connector facing south from Tenth Street bridge	Downtown Connector facing south from Fifth Street bridge; nighttime view
Aerial view of the Downtown Connector facing north from Downtown	Aerial view of the Downtown Connector facing south from Downtown	Atlanta Downtown Connector at night

Exit list

This section contains a table that is missing mileposts for one or more junctions. Please help by adding the missing mileposts.

Exits are numbered from south to north, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines. Mile markers and exit numbers have always been posted according to I-75 only, but once re-joining I-85 the numbers continue as if the motorist were traveling I-85 the entire time (not just picking up where they left off).

Although some signs indicate US 19/US 29 runs along Spring Street, this is not the case. US 19 runs concurrent to US 41/GA 3 up to 14th Street, and US 29 runs concurrent with US 78/US 278/GA 8 west until US 19/US 41/GA 3, where it runs concurrent southbound. US 19 and US 29 was routed on Spring Street until the late 1980's.

Mile	#		Destinations	Notes
	Old
			I-75 south – Macon, Tampa	Continuation beyond I-85 south
	87	242	I-85 south  – Atl Airport, Montgomery	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	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 – Downtown
	92	247	I-20 (Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway) – Augusta, Birmingham
	93	248A	Martin Luther King Jr. Drive – State Capitol	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	94	248B	Edgewood Avenue, Auburn Avenue, J.W. Dobbs Avenue
	96	248C	SR 10 east (Freedom Parkway) / Andrew Young International Boulevard  – Carter Center
	95	248D	J.W. Dobbs Avenue, Edgewood Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound 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 – Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Dome	Southbound exit only
	100	249D	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; no northbound entrance to I-85 north
	102	250	16th Street, 14th Street, 10th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	103	251	I-85 north to SR 400 north  – Greenville, Charlotte	Left exits in both directions
			I-75 north – Marietta, Chattanooga	Continuation beyond I-85 north

References

External links

• Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near Tenth St
• Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near North Ave/Georgia Tech
• Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 near Grady Hosp
• Near real-time traffic image of I-75/85 at University Ave

v · d · eMajor Roads in Metro Atlanta
Interstates and Freeways
	Interstate 75 | Northwest Expressway | Southeast Expressway		Downtown Connector		Interstate 20 | R.D. Abernathy Freeway | West Expressway | East Expressway
	Interstate 85 | Northeast Expressway | Southwest Expressway		The Perimeter		Stone Mountain Freeway
	Interstate 575		Georgia 400		University Parkway
	Interstate 675		Freedom Parkway		Buford Highway | Old 85
	Lanier Parkway		Langford Parkway		Ronald Reagan Parkway
	South Fulton Parkway		Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
Major Throughfares
	Peachtree Street | Peachtree Road | Peachtree Industrial Boulevard | Roswell Road		Ponce de Leon Avenue | North Avenue | D.L. Hollowell Parkway		Cobb Parkway | Northside Drive | Metropolitan Parkway | Tara Boulevard
	Memorial Drive		Piedmont Avenue | Piedmont Road		West Paces Ferry Road
	Buford Highway		Lawrenceville Highway		Sugarloaf Parkway
Unbuilt expressways
	Interstate 485		Outer Perimeter | Northern Arc		Interstate 420