Route around Atlanta

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Ziggy_the_BB wrote:
Agreed, straight through at any time of the day (although rush hour a bit more white knuckle). The trick is use the HOV lanes which require 2 people...so you are legal. Travel through often...HOV=Never a problem.

Not exactly correct. There are no HOV lanes, but toll lanes. It doesn't matter how many occupants are in the vehicle, but you must have a transponder to pay the toll. The Peach Pass (Georgia), Sun Pass (Florida), and the Quick Pass (North Carolina) all work on the toll lanes.

You know not what you say! I75 has no toll lanes!
:S

Thanks for the great advice. Learned a few things.... didn't know RVs could use HOV lanes. Secondly, I like the suggestion of taking I-55 south then merging over to Alt 45 around Memphis, then down to Birmingham on Hwy 78, then southeast on 280 to finally join I-75 in southern Georgia. Per Google maps, looks to add only 40 miles. The only barrier is Birmingham... which can be messy as well. Thanks all for your input.

From eastern Iowa, you don't really have to go within 200 miles of Atlanta. Go through Memphis on down to the Gulf Coast (New Orleans, Biloxi or Mobile) then across I-10 to Florida.

I like going down through Jackson, Mississippi, then US-49 (to Biloxi) or US-49 and US-98 (to Mobile), but I-22 to Tupelo, US-45 and 45 Alt will also work. Or I-22 to Birmingham, I-65 to Montgomery, then US-231 down to I-10. I prefer US-49 because it is four-lane divided most of the way and has relatively few slow sections around the few cities that it connects.

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Not exactly correct. There are no HOV laness.

That's just bad info. The HOV lane starts about MM 258 southbound on I-75.

johnhicks wrote:
I go US-27 or US-441. Life's too short to fool with Atlanta.

I forgot about 27. It is a very good road and is 4 lane most of the way. The 2 lane parts are wide. Not much traffic and you can go all the way into Florida. It intersects I-75 in Ocala.

DownTheAvenue wrote:

Not exactly correct. There are no HOV lanes, but toll lanes.

Has that changed recently (6 months) ?

I-75/85 through downtown has never had any toll lanes in the past.

I never bother with the HOV lanes because they are an advantage mostly during rush hour and I NEVER go through Atlanta at rush hour.....or any other BIG city either.

lukeh wrote:
Each Christmas I travel from Iowa to Ft. Myers, Florida. Year after year we have to carefully time our travels through Atlanta. Does anyone have a good route to skirt Atlanta. I'm driving a diesel pusher with Honda Odyssey toad. Trying to avoid 2 lane or rough roads. Thank you! Safe travels.

Yikes, some dubious advice in this thread. The toll-based lanes are on I-85, which shouldn't be part of your route anyway, so ignore that. If you drive at normal RV speeds, setting yourself up in the HOV lanes would rate you somewhere between annoying and dangerous, so I'd be careful about doing that as well.

Now back to the question you actually asked. If timing to avoid Atlanta rush hour is a problem for you, and bypassing Atlanta is what you want to do, a way to do that on a route of almost exactly the same distance would be to head down to south of Memphis on I-55. Then take US-78, which is a 4-lane, limited access, interstate-quality road and in fact is now designated I-22 over much of its route. I've driven it numerous times and it's a great drive. From Birmingham, you'll need to do a couple short transitions (maybe I-65 to I-20, each would be just a few miles), and then angle southeast on US-280/GA-520 about 260 miles down to I-75. I haven't taken that route through Birmingham, so someone else will need to chime in if it meets your objectives on that segment (and I find Birmingham scarier than Atlanta). From Birmingham on US-280/GA-520, I've only driven the latter portion (again, someone else will need to chime in), but over that stretch it's 4-lane all the way and is my preferred route from east-central Alabama to I-75. Another benefit of this route is that it avoids I-75 south of Atlanta (like around McDonough), which is always under construction, and avoids I-75 north of Atlanta (like around Marietta), which is under construction now for the new Braves stadium. Both of those are worthy ambitions, at least until all of the construction is completed, which will never happen.

Skip

This is about 100 miles farther but Option 1: Some small towns and some 2 lane roads but good ones. Take GA exit 293, turn west on US411 to US27S At Carrollton, take Alt. US27S. Near Newnan, left on GA 34. GA 34 becomes GA 54. Turn south on US41. After Forsyth, left on GA 18 back to I75. Option 2: Take I-59 S at Chattanooga. At Gadsden AL take US431-S. At Opelika AL take US280-E back to I-75 at Cordele GA. We didn't notice any rough roads but with construction everywhere it seems, can't guarantee smooth sailin!

I go US-27 or US-441. Life's too short to fool with Atlanta.

I have never pulled my TT through Atlanta using the HOV lane. I will try this in December.
What speed do you need to travel? And is over the posted speed limit an issue? I the legal answer. But what have you all experienced?