Highway 75 and 285 around Atlanta

[Nika]

We are leaving on May the 13 from St. Louis and driving through Atlanta on the way to WDW. I have seen other postings regarding road work and traffic tie-ups around Atlanta causing alot of time spent sitting on the road.

Can anyone from the Atlanta area tell me where the road work starts and ends? We will be coming through Atlanta around 11:00 PM. Will the road work bother the traffic at that time?

We have thought of going down through Birmingham to avoid the Atlanta area but it really adds driving time. However, I would rather spend the time driving instead of sitting and waiting.

 

[spiceycat]

if they are behind and they have a contract with the state that says it must be finished by a certain date. they will be there.

this would be very hard to predict before hand.

 

[Disney Gator]

I go through Atlanta several times a year. 11PM shouldn't be bad even if there is road work going on. The times to avoid Atlanta completely are the morning and afternoon rush hours. I've driven through Atlanta, and around it on 285, during the day and at night. It's really not that bad, especially at night. The best thing you could do would be to maybe listen to traffic reports if possible. There are also signs as you approach Atlanta that give you an idea of what the traffic is currently like. They will say such and such exit which is 11 miles away will take you this long to get to from here.

Don't add any extra miles to your trip, especially if you will be going through at night. Traffic might be a little heavy, but you won't be sitting in it. You should be able to get through without dropping below the speed limit.

 

[arubalisa]

Irregardless of time of day or night, construction or no construction, you can ALWAYS expect traffic in ATL. If you do not encounter any, just consider yourself blessed

See http://www.georgia-navigator.com/ for more construction info

 

[spiceycat]

here is a link to a post with most atlanta traffic sites

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=800941

 

[Nika]

Thanks to all for the speedy replys. AAA says the road work is between Tipton and Valdosta. Our agent says she has heard of traffic backups that last for over 2 hours. I just don't want to be stuck in that kind of a mess. I have tried the various websites for Georgia DOT etc. and and they show several very short construction areas. I hope this is actual and not wishful thinking.

 

[Disney Gator]

Yes there is a lot of construction on I-75 between Tifton and Valdosta, this area is a couple of hours south of Atlanta. You can expect some delays there. If you can hit it in the early morning or at night it might not be as bad. There's not a lot you can do to avoid it. You could take one of the state highways down to I-10 and then over to I-75 in Florida. This would be several miles out of your way but you would miss that construction area.

I travel this way several times a year like I said, I'm going up to Atlanta this weekend actually, so feel free to PM me if you need any more info.

 

[Laz]

Hopefully I75 won't be as crowded as it was during spring break

The North bound Valdosta road construction forced us into a 4 hour wait! Atlanta itself isn't really that bad if you get in the HOV lane. We got into another 4 hour wait just north of Atlanta. Apparently, someone had the brillant idea of taking 3 and 4 lanes down to ONE during spring break

NEVER AGAIN!!!!

 

[Nika]

Yes Laz, that is just what I have been hearing and reading about. I am hoping that going through around 1 or 2 AM will cut down on the amount of time spent waiting in the construction zone.
Gator, I will PM you on Monday and see how the traffic was this weekend.

Thanks to everyone for the information.