If you drive in Atlanta regularly, then this news probably isn’t much of a surprise, but maybe it’s more of a validation. Traffic in Atlanta is awful, no doubt… and part of the reason is our terrible bottlenecks. According to a new study conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute, NINE of the worst bottlenecks for trucks in the U.S. are right here in Metro Atlanta. This also includes three bottleneck areas that are in the top 10 worst in the nation.
Where are these bottlenecks?
Here’s where each of the 9 worst bottlenecks in the state rank on the list of 100 worst bottlenecks in the country:
- #4 Atlanta, GA: I-285 at I-85 (North)
- #6 Atlanta, GA: I-75 at I-285 (North
- #10 Atlanta, GA: I-20 at I-285 (West)
- #12 McDonough, GA: I-75
- #14 Atlanta, GA: I-20 at I-285 (East)
- #29 Atlanta, GA: I-285 at SR 400
- #38 Atlanta, GA: I-20 at I-75/I-85
- #80 Atlanta, GA: I-75 at I-85
- #82 Atlanta, GA: I-75 at I-675
For Atlanta locals, we all know that #4 spot (and the #1 worst bottleneck in Georgia) is known as Spaghetti Junction, infamous for terrible stop-and-go-traffic and congestion.
Where is the absolute worst bottleneck in the nation?
That would be Fort Lee, New Jersey, on I-95 at SR 4. At its peak congestion, average speed here is only 19.1 mph.
How did the American Transportation Research Institute conduct this study?
According to the ATRI,
Learn more about this study by checking out their website, here!Utilizing an extensive database of freight truck GPS data, ATRI develops and monitors a series of key performance measures on the nation’s freight transportation system. Among its many GPS analyses, ATRI converts its truck GPS dataset into an ongoing truck bottleneck analysis that is used to quantify the impact of traffic congestion on truck-borne freight at over 325 specific locations. While other outside analyses may identify congested corridors, no dataset available today specifically identifies granular chokepoints in the nation’s truck freight transportation system.
Atlanta is a traffic nightmare
Of course, this news isn’t much of a surprise, considering most of us sit in traffic at least a couple times a week. In fact, Atlanta recently ranked among the top 3 worst cities for driving in the United States… at least we’re consistent? (😅)