Atlanta Traffic

[DisneyStarWisher]

We are headed home to KY today from WDW. I have suggested we leave around noon instead of the usual 7 a.m. The idea is to drive to Macon, GA, and stop for dinner and some shopping at Bass Pro. This will allow us to hit Atlanta around 8 p.m. In the past, we have hit it right in the middle of rush-hour traffic, and we want to avoid that. One trip in particular, we lost 3-4 hours in a 60-mile traffic jam! Since we are on CST, we are thinking that we will be home around 1 a.m. Please tell me we will save time on the road this way.

 

[tobikaye]

Since it is a Friday night, it is possible that traffic could be a bit busier later in the evening if anything is going on in Atlanta. I know I have been through later in the evening on a weekend and there was an event in the city that made traffic heavier.

Usually when we leave Florida, we make minimal stops until we get past Atlanta. So, if we leave by 7 am, we are just through Atlanta by 3:30-4:00 pm. Using the HOV lanes, we usually get through just before the early rush hour hits. If there are no major events, you might be good. Especially if there are any accidents, you might know ahead of time and can re-route around before you get to close and stuck in a jam.

I am the type that if there is a exit and I know that the jam is more than 10 miles long, I will get off and find a way around. It might still take me a bit, but I am at least moving.

 

[dreiwhit]

I always try to give Atlanta a wide berth, and go way around on State and US highways. I've never driven through Atlanta without encountering traffic jams or accidents. I've even been to Atlanta on a Saturday morning and traffic was bumper to bumper.

What i've done in the past is to go from LaGrange to Bremen to Rome, and then went east to connect to I-75. It seems like going way out of the way, but its a lot faster than sitting in traffic for a couple of hours.

 

[sam_gordon]

I would leave at 8am. Figure 7 hours (google maps show 6.5) to Atlanta puts you there at 3pm. Get to the north side of Atlanta (Marietta) by 5 at the latest and stop for dinner. That should get you home around 9pm (based on the drive time you mentioned). Means all except maybe the last 30-60 minutes in full daylight.

 

[LadyBeBop]

Besides rush hour, the usual traffic headaches are caused by sporting events, either Atlanta Braves baseball or Atlanta Falcons/Georgia Tech football. The Braves are out of town tonight, and it's not football season. So I wouldn't think driving through Atlanta at 9 PM would be too rough. Just stay in the carpool lane. No way would I attempt driving through Atlanta between 3-7 PM on a Friday.

 

[loves to dive]

We live about 45 min. north of Atlanta and avoid it at all costs if we can. We get off 75 in Macon and hop on 441 which takes us home but it certainly could be used to bi-pass the city and hop back on 75/85 anywhere along the way. I know there you can do it in Jefferson which is technically where we live.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Well, we are back. We ended up sleeping in, going to Disney Springs for a couple of hours, eating lunch at Earl of Sandwich, and hitting the road at noon (11 a.m. our time). We stopped at Macon for about an hour for some shopping and dinner. We hit about 20 minutes of traffic right before Atlanta (and would have been less except for an episode of road rage where a man stopped his car in the middle of the interstate, got out, and proceeded to argue with someone in another vehicle!), but the whole way through Atlanta was smooth sailing. That was about 8:45 their time. We got home about 12:50 a.m. our time. We will definitely try this again! We get an extra half-day at Disney this way. (Actually, my DH and I will try this in October when we leave HHI. We plan to leave around 3 p.m.--almost another full day!)