Bottleneck Concerns in Georgia

Congestion that reoccurs day over day, year over year, is typically referred to as a “bottleneck.” This typically occurs on highways where there is a large amount of traffic based on the lack of volume compared to capacity.

Every year, the ATRI (American Transportation Institute) collects and analyzes truck GPS data, which allows them to determine the top bottleneck locations in the US.

Doug Turnboul, writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stated that, "Once again, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has ranked several Atlanta interchanges as some of the worst in the nation." Additionally, in previous years, Atlanta’s traffic was ranked the top 10 worst in the world.

Throughout his article, Turboul specifically pulled Atlanta highways from ATRI’s worst bottleneck locations. Included within the list are their rankings, with 1 being the most congested.

• I-285 at I-85 (DeKalb) - 4th

• I-20 at I-285 (Fulton) - 5th 

• I-75 in McDonough - 13th 

• I-285 at GA-400 - 14th 

• I-20 at I-285 (DeKalb) - 17th 

• I-75 at I-285 (Cobb) - 18th 

With that being said, “For several years and prior to the release of this year’s report, the Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) has continued to work systematically and efficiently to remedy these points of serious congestion to improve travel times, enhance safety, and support Georgia’s growing economy.” (AllOnGeorgia)

One remedy that has already proved successful is the addition of express lanes. Future express lane projects are projected to begin construction across the northern portion of I-285 and SR 400 in Metro Atlanta. Additionally, there are also plans for express lanes on both I-20 east and west. Reducing bottlenecks across Georgia will be beneficial for not only drivers within the state, but truck drivers across the country as well.