My sister and BiL frequently drive from Chicago to Florida (Sarasota). My sister said most of the drive is fine but every time Atlanta ruins her day. She says it is a nightmare driving through it (which is always during the day or early evening…no way will she time it to drive through at 3a).
My question, is there another route that bypasses Atlanta that is not longer (time-wise)? A little longer is ok. More distance is fine if there is no traffic slowdown. Heck, a detour that is a really nice drive or fun but adds some time might be worthwhile. Anything to avoid Atlanta traffic.
I can use Google maps same as anyone but it misses things people would know (like, this route adds 45 minutes but is a beautiful drive with no stressful traffic or that route takes you by a place with the best fried chicken in the US and worth the extra time).
Maybe a more westerly route? It looks like taking I-65 down to Birmingham, then some back roads between Birmingham and Tallahassee, then back on I-10 east to Jacksonville and south to Miami from there would be a good alternative. The tricky part would be between Birmingham and Tallahassee.
Adding a stop in Columbia, SC increases the time from 20.5 hours to 21.25 hours (30-45 minutes extra). It moves a chunk of the trip down to the coast and routes you through Jacksonville which The Good Place has taught me to avoid. No idea if that’s a nice ride or a nightmare.
Take this all with a grain of salt. I don’t have the practical experience you want – just enough curiosity to goof around on Google Maps.
I’ve visited Jacksonville a bunch of times (not in the last five years though) and lived in Atlanta for many years. I’ve never driven west on I-10 in rush hour, but the rush hour in Jacksonville is nothing like Atlanta’s.
Time was you could avoid the worst of Atlanta’s traffic by going around the perimeter (I-285) but I assume she’s already doing this (going on I-285 between I-75 S in Smyrna and I-85 S in College Park), and nowadays that’s also jammed for a good three hours in the morning AND afternoon, sometimes all day.
We went to Atlanta after being away for ten years (2010-2020) and the traffic had somehow gotten worse which didn’t even seem possible. So I think I know what she’s talking about.
Atlanta brings me bad memories, and I live in the NYC metro area. Not that long ago, I planned to leave Buckhead early on a Friday morning and drive home to NJ in one day - which should have been a 14-hour drive. I barely got on the highway and I’m stuck in 2 hours of almost standstill traffic. It really sucked when I finally got out of the traffic, and the GPS still showed 14 hours. Luckily it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.
Looks like taking US 82 west off of I-75 at Exit 62 in Tifton, picking up I-65N in Montgomery, would be your best bet. Straight into Shytown from there.
Even better is US 238 N from Marianna off of I-10 into Montgomery, rinse, repeat. 45 min. slower than I-75 into Atlanta, but if there are any Atlanta wrecks you’ll easily beat the 20:45 it gave me for the Atlanta route.
Well, we don’t want them driving through Atlanta either, so there.
Honestly, were I doing that route I’d do the Birmingham option - to avoid Chattanooga as well as Atlanta. Chattanooga is doing ridiculous construction on I-24, which is what goes through the ridge cut (so that gets backed up all the time) and is the connection from Nashville to I-75. I drove up December 23 and there were signs from about 10-15 miles out about potential stopped traffic ahead. I know where I can leave the interstate to avoid it - especially since Chattanooga was as far as I was driving, but if I was driving through, I’d avoid going through there right now.
Chattanooga can be a nightmare, and frankly so can Columbia SC. They aren’t the size of Atlanta, but the traffic can be insane if you hit the wrong time.
As far as I remember, any routes around them are generally fine. Longer distance, slower speeds, prettier. Just remember, though, that if you get behind something big and slow there is frequently no getting around them, especially in hilly mountain areas.
Over the years we used to avoid Atlanta but in recent years we found it was easier go through downtown Atlanta w/o issues instead of bypassing it. Sometimes we’d hop over to I 95 or Rte 17? Destination Nassau Cty Fl
As you’re coming down I-24 through Tennessee, about 20 miles outside Chattanooga take I-59 south toward Birmingham. Maybe 40 miles down I-59, get off at Fort Payne, AL, and make your way east into Georgia and pick up US 27 south. 27 is an excellent highway that will take you through Georgia into Florida and I-10.
This lets you avoid Atlanta AND Chattanooga, which can also be a nightmare!