Just drove down to FL from Indiana - horrible delays south of Chattanooga and again Atlanta!

[luvavacation]

Left Northern IN yesterday morning at 7:30 am, arrived at our home near Orlando at 1:45 am. We thought that, by driving on a Sunday and hitting Atlanta later in the day, we would have no problems with traffic. We have driven this drive countless times, both northbound and southbound, and have always found Sundays to be much easier, delay-wise, than during the week.

The drive was supposed to take 15 hours. We anticipated arrival home by 10:30 pm. Due to really awful construction delays (lane closures, accidents from rear endings, etc), this was not the case.

We normally have delays in Indianapolis, but we sailed through Indiana. No issues. Kentucky was also the same. Tennessee was fine until just after Chattanooga. Lanes went down to one lane. Back-up was miles long. There was no way around it, because I neglected to check my WAZE app since I didn't recall reading about delays in this area. We ended up stuck between exits and just sat. If we moved at 10 mph, we were rejoicing. But that delay was not as bad as in Atlanta!

Usually, we drive straight through Atlanta. We time it so we don't hit the worst of rush hour, but on a Sunday, our only concern was making it out of Atlanta before traffic let out from the football game. With the delay at Chattanooga, we hit some of that traffic, but in the HOV lane, it was no problem. Until we got to the first construction lane closures near Hapeville. And we sat.

Then we hit more construction. I don't recall the exact mile marker, but we were stopped before we even saw that there were more closures for construction just a couple of miles up ahead. We were tired by now, so I don't recall the exact milemarkers, but I don't believe it let up until way past the 285/75 southbound interchange, near McDonough.

We tried to skirt some of the mess, but once it was dark I was not comfortable following the WAZE app's suggestions of back-road workarounds. Getting off I-75 wasn't much help anyway, as the side roads (hwy 41 was very bad) were all blocked with semis also trying to get around the construction on I-75.

Just thought I would offer my experience from last night to early this morning. Not sure if it will help anyone else, but next time, I will definitely look into going through Alabama if construction in Georgia is still taking 6 lanes of traffic down to one! And I will be more diligent with use of my WAZE app!

Oh, one more piece of advice for those that think it is ok to be sneaky and ride the shoulder as if you were going to take an exit, only to get back into traffic - the police were out in full force grabbing the lane dodgers. Don't be sneaky - you will get caught.

 

[Alesia]

Always drive through Alabama, not Georgia. It's so much easier.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

A lot of people do not drive the speed limit in construction zone and cause all kinds of tie ups. We have one or two bad crashes on our turnpike a week that is under construction right now.

 

[disneygrandma]

We seem to always run in to delays around Chattanooga, but this construction delay sounds bad. So I'm guessing that I-65 thru AL would be better than I-75 thru TN and GA. For those that travel that route, do you cut across to Tifton, GA? Or cut down thru Dothan, and take I-10 thru the panhandle?

Just trying to get an idea of which would be the best way to go, and if we should detour around I-75, or stay the course

Thanks for the help. Right now it's not just a route that's easy, but we might also need to consider safety with the storm approaching. It sound like there could be quite a bit of rain and wind.

 

[BigAlsGal]

This is why we usually drive through the night on the way there. Few delays if any. Cruise control pretty much the whole way.

On the way home we usually drive through the day. Luckily DH is a wiz at finding the alternate route. It might take 30 minutes extra but I know it saves us the grueling wait in traffic. I'd rather be moving.

Side note: Don't you love when there's a delay and when you get to the front of the delay......there was no delay?!? Just weird...traffic is weird.

 

[dreiwhit]

My personal rule is that every time I have to go through Atlanta, I try to take the "long" way around Atlanta. What I mean is that I try to take a combination of US and State highways to avoid Atlanta. It may look like its taking longer, but figuring in traffic delays, it is shorter.

I live in Alabama, and my recommendation would be to make a wide loop around Atlanta and stay in Georgia. Not that we don't welcome folks here in Alabama, but, IMHO, taking I-65 is going way out of your way. Its three hours alone from Marianna, Florida where I get off I-10 to where I live north of Montgomery on US-231 and I-65, and four hours from my home to Tifton, Georgia. And, keep in mind traffic around Montgomery can be bad during rush hour, with frequent wrecks. We call it "The Montgomery 500." Also, ALDOT is doing work on I-65 from I-459 to the northern end of Birmingham. They're trying to do the work on weekends and evenings, but traffic will back up. Traffic normally backs up from Calera to Birmingham during the morning and evening rush hours. Traffic on I-65 can be bad even on weekends from Clanton (exits 205-212) to Birmingham just because of the volume of traffic.

Looking at the map, if I was going north or south and wanted to avoid Chattanooga, I would take Tennessee State 60 / Georgia State 71 from Cleveland to Dalton. From all the times I've driven through Chattanooga, Cleveland is far enough north to miss the problem spots. If you wanted to stay off I-75, US 41 runs from Dalton to Calhoun. To miss Atlanta, I'd go from Calhoun to Rome to Carollton (my favorite route), then Newnan to Griffin to I-75.

FWIW, my problem area when we go to Disney is I-75 from the I-10 interchange down to the exit for the toll road. I've already got my son researching alternate routes for the next time we drive down to Disney (he's my navigator) and he'll be monitoring Waze to look for trouble spots.

 

[AngiTN]

Left Northern IN yesterday morning at 7:30 am, arrived at our home near Orlando at 1:45 am. We thought that, by driving on a Sunday and hitting Atlanta later in the day, we would have no problems with traffic. We have driven this drive countless times, both northbound and southbound, and have always found Sundays to be much easier, delay-wise, than during the week.

The drive was supposed to take 15 hours. We anticipated arrival home by 10:30 pm. Due to really awful construction delays (lane closures, accidents from rear endings, etc), this was not the case.

We normally have delays in Indianapolis, but we sailed through Indiana. No issues. Kentucky was also the same. Tennessee was fine until just after Chattanooga. Lanes went down to one lane. Back-up was miles long. There was no way around it, because I neglected to check my WAZE app since I didn't recall reading about delays in this area. We ended up stuck between exits and just sat. If we moved at 10 mph, we were rejoicing. But that delay was not as bad as in Atlanta!

Usually, we drive straight through Atlanta. We time it so we don't hit the worst of rush hour, but on a Sunday, our only concern was making it out of Atlanta before traffic let out from the football game. With the delay at Chattanooga, we hit some of that traffic, but in the HOV lane, it was no problem. Until we got to the first construction lane closures near Hapeville. And we sat.

Then we hit more construction. I don't recall the exact mile marker, but we were stopped before we even saw that there were more closures for construction just a couple of miles up ahead. We were tired by now, so I don't recall the exact milemarkers, but I don't believe it let up until way past the 285/75 southbound interchange, near McDonough.

We tried to skirt some of the mess, but once it was dark I was not comfortable following the WAZE app's suggestions of back-road workarounds. Getting off I-75 wasn't much help anyway, as the side roads (hwy 41 was very bad) were all blocked with semis also trying to get around the construction on I-75.

Just thought I would offer my experience from last night to early this morning. Not sure if it will help anyone else, but next time, I will definitely look into going through Alabama if construction in Georgia is still taking 6 lanes of traffic down to one! And I will be more diligent with use of my WAZE app!

Oh, one more piece of advice for those that think it is ok to be sneaky and ride the shoulder as if you were going to take an exit, only to get back into traffic - the police were out in full force grabbing the lane dodgers. Don't be sneaky - you will get caught.

And this is why we started flying. We live in Chattanooga (area) and drive through Atlanta to get there. Just not worth it. Doesn't matter what time you hit it, there is traffic!

 

[seashoreCM]

This is why we usually drive through the night ... us the grueling wait in traffic. I'd rather be moving.

Side note: Don't you love when there's a delay and when you get to the front of the delay......there was no delay?!? Just weird...traffic is weird.

If traffic solidifies due to an accident or other blockage, suppose the blockage were to suddenly vanish, it would take something like 10 more minutes per for each mile's worth of backed up traffic to get moving.

 

[loves to dive]

I live in Athens GA, which is north of Atlanta and the only time we drive to/through Atlanta is going to the airport. Otherwise, we find alternate routes around the city, and get back on 75 in Macon. My daddy used to work for the state highway and used to joke that the day the stop working on 75 is the day the world stops revolving. If it's possible to get on 441 somewhere, you might try that to Macon, in some spots its 4 lane but much easier than going through Atlanta. Should be easy enough to avoid Chattnoogy (my family are from Ringgold/Dalton area and that was how Granddaddy always said it) by taking the state roads and then hopping back on 75 south of Dalton, bonus you get to do those great mountain roads.

 

[disneygrandma]

For us, we'll be driving from eastern Nebraska. So we're looking for the route that will have the least amount of construction, traffic and other road issues. We've always just driven I-75 before, but have always had issues with traffic in Chattanooga. And with the problems that the OP reported, I'm thinking we should try a different route.

Cleveland to Dalton would not be an option for us. That's why we are thinking of getting off of I-75 at Nashville. However, if Montgomery is that bad, then maybe we shouldn't go that way either. As for the PP's instructions to avoid Atlanta, I looked at the map and the route from Newman to Griffin appears to be a smaller highway that might cause some issues. ?????

All of this construction unknowns and stress, plus the heavy volume of rain to factor in going thru FL. We planned to drive this trip just to avoid the stress of flying!!

Thanks everyone for all the info you can add to make our decision a more educated one.

 

[loves to dive]

For us, we'll be driving from eastern Nebraska. So we're looking for the route that will have the least amount of construction, traffic and other road issues. We've always just driven I-75 before, but have always had issues with traffic in Chattanooga. And with the problems that the OP reported, I'm thinking we should try a different route.

Cleveland to Dalton would not be an option for us. That's why we are thinking of getting off of I-75 at Nashville. However, if Montgomery is that bad, then maybe we shouldn't go that way either. As for the PP's instructions to avoid Atlanta, I looked at the map and the route from Newman to Griffin appears to be a smaller highway that might cause some issues. ?????

All of this construction unknowns and stress, plus the heavy volume of rain to factor in going thru FL. We planned to drive this trip just to avoid the stress of flying!!

Thanks everyone for all the info you can add to make our decision a more educated one.

Not sure why the smaller highway would cause issues, but as far a traffic on the state roads, it depends on your timing. If you are going through mid day, you should be able to breeze through, even going through the small towns (which I love to do). If you are going early morning from around 6 to 8 you might run into some traffic since most people in the rural towns tend to commute to the bigger towns. Same with around 4 to 6. Weekends are pretty much the luck of the draw. I would caution you if you do decide to go state roads, watch your speed. Some of the smaller towns and counties get a large portion of their budget via traffic tickets so the police tend to set speed traps (they are illegal but they do it anyway) and the Georgia State Patrol has very little sense of humor.

 

[AngiTN]

Not sure why the smaller highway would cause issues, but as far a traffic on the state roads, it depends on your timing. If you are going through mid day, you should be able to breeze through, even going through the small towns (which I love to do). If you are going early morning from around 6 to 8 you might run into some traffic since most people in the rural towns tend to commute to the bigger towns. Same with around 4 to 6. Weekends are pretty much the luck of the draw. I would caution you if you do decide to go state roads, watch your speed. Some of the smaller towns and counties get a large portion of their budget via traffic tickets so the police tend to set speed traps (they are illegal but they do it anyway) and the Georgia State Patrol has very little sense of humor.

Well, being in Athens GA you know well that state highways are not often equipped to handle heavy traffic and you can very easily end up in a longer line of traffic on a side road that you'd be if you waited it out on the main road. It's rare for me to want to jump off 24 or 75 and use a highway around here. It rarely makes the trip better. Though it depends on why 24 or 75 are backed up

 

[dreiwhit]

Cleveland to Dalton would not be an option for us. That's why we are thinking of getting off of I-75 at Nashville. However, if Montgomery is that bad, then maybe we shouldn't go that way either. As for the PP's instructions to avoid Atlanta, I looked at the map and the route from Newman to Griffin appears to be a smaller highway that might cause some issues. ?????

The only time you *might* have problems going through Montgomery would be the morning and evening rush hour. Those usually run from 6:30am to 8:30am and 3:30pm to 6:00pm, give or take. Traffic flows, but it can be heavy. And, people are driving way too fast and too recklessly, or too slowly and won't get out of your way. Occasionally, they'll be an accident outside of those time that cause problems, but that could happen anywhere.

I would avoid Birmingham during those times as well, plus with the road work going on.

On the weekends, I-65 can get busy, but its just because its a major north south artery from the Gulf Coast. It depends on the time of year.

I can't speak for Georgia, but local roads around here are usually the least travelled. However, keep in mind that the closer you get to a city, the busier the traffic may be.

Since you're coming from Nebraska, if I was making that drive, I would take I-65 South from Nashville, go through Birmingham and Montgomery, and then take US-231 down to I-10. Nashville and Birmingham will have a worse rush hour than Montgomery, just because they are bigger cities. If you can schedule your drive to avoid Nashville and Birmingham rush hours, or make wide loops around them if you are hitting them at rush hour, you'll be ok.

Well, being in Athens GA you know well that state highways are not often equipped to handle heavy traffic and you can very easily end up in a longer line of traffic on a side road that you'd be if you waited it out on the main road. It's rare for me to want to jump off 24 or 75 and use a highway around here. It rarely makes the trip better. Though it depends on why 24 or 75 are backed up

That's why I make a WIDE loop around Atlanta. I try to avoid driving in Atlanta, no matter if its Interstate, US, State, or County roads!

 

[AngiTN]

The only time you *might* have problems going through Montgomery would be the morning and evening rush hour. Those usually run from 6:30am to 8:30am and 3:30pm to 6:00pm, give or take. Traffic flows, but it can be heavy. And, people are driving way too fast and too recklessly, or too slowly and won't get out of your way. Occasionally, they'll be an accident outside of those time that cause problems, but that could happen anywhere.

I would avoid Birmingham during those times as well, plus with the road work going on.

On the weekends, I-65 can get busy, but its just because its a major north south artery from the Gulf Coast. It depends on the time of year.

I can't speak for Georgia, but local roads around here are usually the least travelled. However, keep in mind that the closer you get to a city, the busier the traffic may be.

Since you're coming from Nebraska, if it was making that drive, I would take I-65 South from Nashville, go through Birmingham and Montgomery, and then take US-231 down to I-10. Nashville and Birmingham will have a worse rush hour than Montgomery, just because they are bigger cities.



That's why I make a WIDE loop around Atlanta. I try to avoid driving in Atlanta, no matter if its Interstate, US, State, or County roads!

Nashville actually has worse traffic stalls than Atlanta! Atlanta has high volume but it moves. Nashville's roads can not handle the volume of vehicles on it, even remotely well. It's horrific. One of the reasons I moved away and why my Dad went to work at 4AM

 

[disneygrandma]

We live in a rural area, about 20 miles outside the bigger metro area. Some of the problems with smaller roads: One lane each way means if there's construction, then there is only 1 lane for both directions, so you need to take turns. And if there is an accident, lots of time traffic is stopped in both directions. Also, on these types of roads, they tend to be much more hilly than the larger highways, and there are many accidents caused by people crossing the center line and crashing in to oncoming traffic. They also tend to have a lot of slower drivers, and then it's difficult to pass them.

Because of this, we like highways that are 2 lanes in both directions. However, that's not always practical.

 

[dreiwhit]

Nashville's roads can not handle the volume of vehicles on it, even remotely well. It's horrific.

That's the same problem with Montgomery. Except for adding lanes to existing roads and Interstates, and two toll bridges and their feeder roads, Montgomery has the same road network that they had when I moved to this area in 1978. When you throw in the increase in population of the metro area, and more people moving to the surrounding cities and towns and commuting to work in Montgomery, the traffic can be horrible. Sadly, there is no solution, and the suburbs are expected to grow even more over the next 10 years.....