Road Trip Thru Atlanta

esample · esample's Garage

I'm taking a little ride from Tampa to Chattanooga this weekend. I'll be going thru Atlanta and am wondering what to expect traffic-wise because of the SEC game on Saturday. My son and I will be in our '86 Carrera and are looking forward to our first trip in the car. We always go right thru town on 75, but maybe we should go around this time? I'm thinking we'll get there around 2:00 on Saturday afternoon.

Input from Atlantans would be appreciated.

Thanks
-e.

w21055 · w21055's Garage

Saturday usually is a breeze, but it should be a little more heavy with the game in town. The good thing is that is pretty much all that is going on Saturday.
There is some construction going on well south of the city, don't go that far down I just heard about it from a friend who came up from FLA.

equality72521 · 11-29-2007, 04:05 PM

I've driven the Indy>Tampa>Indy route before and I hate going through downtown Atlanta. I was born and raised in Tampa. Atlanta is a whole 'nuther beast. I'd avoid anything close to that crowd. Take the bypass.

w21055 · w21055's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by equality72521

I've driven the Indy>Tampa>Indy route before and I hate going through downtown Atlanta. I was born and raised in Tampa. Atlanta is a whole 'nuther beast. I'd avoid anything close to that crowd. Take the bypass.

Now if it was Friday at 2PM you would have to add 2.5 hours to the same trip.

MBAtarga · 11-29-2007, 05:23 PM

I'd say to expect a slowdown nearing and in town, but should lighten up considerably once you take the 75N exchange. If you want to avoid the downtown traffic - take the 285 loop - 285 West would probably be the best.

Chocaholic · 11-29-2007, 05:46 PM

Check here: http://www.traffic.com/Atlanta-Traffic/Atlanta-Traffic-Reports.html?ct=ma_map

esample · esample's Garage

thanks for the info guys. we'll probaby take the loop this time to be safe. Will post some pics when we get back. We're going to spend one day in the mountains around Ocoee.

-e.

esample · esample's Garage

Wow Mike, cool website. Thanks!

-e.

carnutzzz · 11-30-2007, 06:45 AM

Just take 285 around and you'll be just fine.

The SEC game is no Nascar race- then I would be worried for you!

esample · esample's Garage

Well, we made the trip without a hitch (mostly) and arrived back in Tampa yesterday afternoon. It was 11:30 on Saturday when we hit Atlanta, so we just went through town. No problems. On the north side, near Kennesaw, a big black car with black bars welded across the grill got on our tail in the left lane going 80mph. I couldn't get over because the two right lanes were wall-to-wall semis. Though he wasn't flashing his lights or anything, he sat right on my bumper for 2-3 minutes. So I accelerated to 90 or 95 (100 indicated) and pulled into the center lane in front of a truck. The black car went past. On the side of the car... "GSP". He didn't look at me twice. Wow! my heart was about to jump out of my chest. I guess I would have told him I knew he was LEO and was trying to get out of his way if he had pulled me over.

The Valentine kept me out of trouble a few times on the interstate. When we got into north Georgia, we got off and took some great roads into Tennessee. On Sunday we went into the mountains and followed the Ocoee River for a really great ride. See photos. My son, Sean, shot video of the trip, but mostly out the side window. You don't want to see it.

The car ran flawlessly and burned no oil at all for the whole 1200+ miles. The seat was most comfortable. The heat was great when stopped and non-existent at speed. Oh well, the air works and I live in Tampa.

I have made this trip many times but never had as much fun.
Thanks for the responses re: ATL traffic.

Sean at the motel.

Lake Ocoee

Ocoee River (low tide) You can see the road in background. Right after snapping this, I saw a 930 and two Corvettes blast past. The Porsche driver blowing his horn when he saw our car on the shoulder.