Interstate 285 (I-285) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway of Interstate 85 (I-85) that is a beltway loop encircling Atlanta, Georgia for 63.98 miles (102.97 km). It connects the three major interstate highways to Atlanta: I-20, I-75 and I-85. Colloquially referred to as The Perimeter, it also carries unsigned State Route 407 (GA 407), and is signed as Atlanta Bypass on I-75/I-85 (the Downtown Connector). For about 1 mile on the southwestern side of Atlanta it runs concurrently with its "parent" route I-85, making it one of only two interstate loop freeways that presently runs concurrently with its parent route (I-495 and I-95 on the south and east side of Washington D.C. is the other pair).
Because of suburban sprawl, it is estimated that more than two million people use the highway each day, making it the busiest Interstate in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and one of the most heavily traveled roadways in the United States. During rush hour, portions of the highway slow, sometimes to a crawl.
Route description[]
I-285 is 8 to 12 lanes wide, with the northern part from I-75 to GA 400 to I-85 the most heavily traveled. One segment of the highway near Tom Moreland Interchange (a large, flyover highway interchange northeast of Atlanta) with I-85 widens to 18 lanes, including collector-distributor lanes. Exits are numbered clockwise, starting at the southwesternmost point at I-85, and ending just east of there where it meets I-85 again near Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Exit 1 in East Point, Fulton County is Washington Road, while Exit 2 is Camp Creek Parkway (GA 6), which leads easterly to the major airport. Between I-85 and I-20 in southwest Fulton County, I-285 is designated as the Bob A. Holmes Freeway, where I-285 heads north, and has an interchange with GA 154/GA 166 (Langford Parkway and Campbellton Road). Next it interchanges with Cascade Road. Then I-285 interchanges with GA 139 (Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) before having a major interchange with I-20, east to the Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway and west to the Tom Murphy Freeway.
Between I-20 in northwest Atlanta and I-75 near Cumberland Mall, it is designated as the James E. 'Billy' McKinney Highway as it continues north, and starts to curve to the east just west of the I-75 interchange. After the interchange with I-20, I-285 interchanges with US 78/US 278/GA 8 (Hollowell Parkway), then it has a clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance with Bolton Road. After that, I-285 enters Cobb County and interchanges with GA 280 (South Cobb Drive), then South Atlanta Road, and Paces Ferry Road. I-285 then heads to the Cobb Cloverleaf interchange, first meeting Cobb Parkway (US 41) and a major interchange with I-75.
The northern portion of I-285, east of the Cobb Cloverleaf (I-75 interchange) to Tom Moreland Interchange, a Spaghetti Junction (I-85 interchange), is frequently referred to as the Top End Perimeter. This section, which includes an interchange with GA 400 at exit 27 (frequently cited as the most dangerous intersections in Atlanta), is one of the busiest freeways in the United States, handling about 250,000 cars per day and crossing through three counties. Through that stretch, the freeway expands from six or eight lanes to between ten and fourteen lanes.
After the Cobb Cloverleaf interchange with US 41 and I-75, I-285 returns back into Fulton County in Sandy Springs curving to the east, first interchanging with Northside Drive. Then it meets Riverside Drive, and Roswell Road (US 19/GA 9). US 19 joins the concurrency with I-285, interchanging with Glenridge Drive and Glenridge Connector (counterclockwise entrance and clockwise exit) as then the US 19 concurrency ends at a freeway-to-freeway interchange with GA 400 (T. Harvey Mathis Parkway). From Exit 25 to Exit 27, I-285 is concurrent with US 19. After that, I-285 has a counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance with Peachtree-Dunwoody Road. I-285 enters DeKalb County in Dunwoody before having a DDI interchange with Ashford-Dunwoody Road. This interchange was updated to a DDI on June 3, 2012. Next exit is an interchange with Chamblee-Dunwoody Road, North Shallowford Road. and North Peachtree Road. Entering into Doraville, I-285 has an interchange with GA 141 (Peachtree Industrial Boulevard), with the clockwise exit and entrance at the surface road and the counterclockwise exit and entrance at the freeway section. The exit for Tilly Mill Road and Flowers Road had been removed in the 1990s during the I-285 reconfiguration and is now part of Exit 31B counterclockwise bound. Next exit is an interchange with US 23/GA 13 (Buford Highway), then next is a major interchange with I-85, part of the Spaghetti Junction (Tom Moreland Interchange), which is one of the biggest and most busiest interchanges in the Atlanta metropolitan area. After that major interchange, I-285 curves to the south.
While I-285 does not travel through Gwinnett County, the highway travels very close to the DeKalb–Gwinnett county line and many major highways in Gwinnett County connect to I-285, with some prominent ones being US 78, I-85, and GA 141. Major Gwinnett County cities close to I-285 are Peachtree Corners and Norcross.
With a clockwise exit and two counterclockwise entrances (one onto I-285 and another one onto I-85) part of the Spaghetti Junction, I-285's next interchange is with Chamblee-Tucker Road. Then it has a clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance with Northlake Parkway, followed by an interchange with GA 236 (LaVista Road), which leads to the city of Tucker. Next interchange is US 29/GA 8 (Lawrenceville Highway), which also leads to Tucker. I-285 crosses the city line to Stone Mountain, interchanging US 78, the Stone Mountain Freeway. At Exit 40, I-285 has a clockwise exit and counterclockwise entrance with East Ponce de Leon Avenue and a clockwise entrance and counterclockwise exit with Church Street. Both streets leads to the city of Clarkston and are separated by railroad tracks. Next interchange is the Tom Scott Interchange, which is the intersection of GA 10 (Memorial Drive) to Avondale Estates and GA 154, access to Downtown Atlanta and Stone Mountain.Freeway. I-285 then heads to a counterclockwise exit and clockwise entrance to Indian Creek Transit Station, which is located just east outside of the Atlanta Bypass. Next interchange is at US 278/GA 12 (Covington Highway) and another next is Glenwood Road. Then I-285 has another major interchange with I-20, west to the Ralph D. Abernathy Freeway and east to the Purple Heart Highway.
Much of Atlanta's high-end commercial real estate has developed along I-285, particularly at the northwestern I-75 and the GA 400 interchanges. Notable buildings include the 35-story King and Queen towers in the Perimeter Center business district and the Cobb Galleria complex in the Cumberland/Galleria area.