Montgomery, Alabama to I-10

Just went and came back that way. 231 was fine, I65 north and south of Birmingham was a parking lot both going and coming. Going was Thanksgiving Day week end and coming home was on New Year's Eve. That was the only spot we encountered stop and go traffic.

I travel 231 all the time and the only bottleneck is Dothan; and its not bad at all. Take the eastern portion of the traffic circle around town. Now if you go around a major holiday then the traffic will be worse; everyone going to or coming from the beaches.

edatlanta wrote:

04fxsts wrote:

sch911 wrote:
There are three or four good options. But you need to tell us where you're going?

We are going a couple places in Florida starting with the Jacksonville area, down to Port ST Lucie then Clewiston and back to east central Illinois. Using the Good Sam trip planner is showing about two more hours going Nashville to Montgomery to Jacksonville instead of through Chattanooga and Atlanta. Looking at a total of 9 or 10 days, I am retired but the wife has a business so has a limited time she can be away. Jim.

My home base is south of Birmingham, AL and I travel to Panama City, FL a couple of times a year. I traveled 231 one time and no more. Way too much traffic for me. The route I prefer is:

From Montgomery continue south on I65 to exit 114
Turn left on hwy 106 for a mile is so and continue south on hwy 55 to
Florala then south on hwy 331 to just south of DeFuniak Springs. Take hwy 20 east to south on hwy 79 to hwy 90. The reason for hwy 20 and 79 is there is major bridge/road construction on 331 south of 331 an 20.

This route brings you in to the west side of Panama City.

Nice road, little traffic, some 4 lane. Nice drive.

Yup our favorite way to get to Destin too.

04fxsts wrote:

sch911 wrote:
There are three or four good options. But you need to tell us where you're going?

We are going a couple places in Florida starting with the Jacksonville area, down to Port ST Lucie then Clewiston and back to east central Illinois. Using the Good Sam trip planner is showing about two more hours going Nashville to Montgomery to Jacksonville instead of through Chattanooga and Atlanta. Looking at a total of 9 or 10 days, I am retired but the wife has a business so has a limited time she can be away. Jim.

My home base is south of Birmingham, AL and I travel to Panama City, FL a couple of times a year. I traveled 231 one time and no more. Way too much traffic for me. The route I prefer is:

From Montgomery continue south on I65 to exit 114
Turn left on hwy 106 for a mile is so and continue south on hwy 55 to
Florala then south on hwy 331 to just south of DeFuniak Springs. Take hwy 20 east to south on hwy 79 to hwy 90. The reason for hwy 20 and 79 is there is major bridge/road construction on 331 south of 331 an 20.

This route brings you in to the west side of Panama City.

Nice road, little traffic, some 4 lane. Nice drive.

sch911 wrote:
There are three or four good options. But you need to tell us where you're going?

We are going a couple places in Florida starting with the Jacksonville area, down to Port ST Lucie then Clewiston and back to east central Illinois. Using the Good Sam trip planner is showing about two more hours going Nashville to Montgomery to Jacksonville instead of through Chattanooga and Atlanta. Looking at a total of 9 or 10 days, I am retired but the wife has a business so has a limited time she can be away. Jim.

I have traveled from North Alabama to I-10 numerous times a year for over 20 years and tried every route imaginable. I would recommend HWY 231 as it is now a four lane with a 65 mph speed limit for most of its length. You will encounter the towns of Troy and Ozark both with a few traffic lights but not much traffic. Dothan will slow you some due to the number of lights but in 15 minutes you are through and set for the straight run to I-10.

There are three or four good options. But you need to tell us where you're going?

We have taken Route 231 from Montgomery for the past few years. It is a good road with little traffic and the few towns are no big deal. The biggest bottleneck is getting around Dothan. There is a ring road but there is lots of traffic and stop lights every block. What we do is take the Eastern ring road and pick up Rte. 94 in Georgia over to Valdosta and pick up I-75 into Florida. There are several different ways of going but the fastest is probably taking 23l south to I-10. We enjoy getting off the interstates and that is why we take Rte. 94.

If you are going to the FL panhandle your route as you are thinking may be the best. But if you are headed down into central and south FL you may want to move a bit east. I haven't been to liking much of I -65 at all. Rather rough once south of Tennessee.

Have you considered running down to Nashville then taking I-24 over to Chattanooga, then I-75 south to Calhoun (north of Atlanta).Then bypass Atlanta to the west and reconnect with 75 at Tifton, GA

Southbound out of of Chattanooga on I-75 exit 312 SW on to GA 53. Head to Rome and turn left onto GA 1 the Rome bypass. Go to US 411 and turn right and proceed to US 27. Take it south to LaGrange and turn left on to the Davis road bypass (this bypass new and it may not show on your GPS). Proceed to GA 109 (at the LaGrange mall) and turn left and proceed to I-85. Proceed north toward Atlanta about 1,000 feet on I-85 then exit immediately south on I-185 to Columbus. As you pass through Columbus you will approach the entrance to Ft Benning which you will recognize as a very ornate bridge. As you pass under that bridge exit right on to US 82/GA 520. Proceed to Tifton (using the Albany bypass) and return southbound to I-75. You will not run into traffic in GA on this route.

We run this route consistently with our moho and toad. About 80% of it is 65 mph the remainder mostly 55 except in a few short urban areas. Its scenic, relaxing and an enjoyable ride compared to the Atlanta traffic, road surface and construction mess.

Just offering this if you were headed into central and south FL.

Safe travels!

The road is good but, I thought there was a lot of stop and go. Not much fun if trying to make time. We always used this route to Panama City Beach years ago and I'm thinking I told myself I wasn't going to do the stop (from 55mph) and go on that route anymore. Now that I think of it, maybe it was worse on the south side of I -10. Hopefully someone else will give you better info then this.