Interstate 285 Inner Loop - East Point to Smyrna

Milepost zero for Interstate 285 is the southwestern corner of the Perimeter Highway at the exchange with I-85 and SR 14CO (S Fulton Parkway).

07/26/22

Interstate 285 leads away from the interchange complex with I-85 and SR 14CO (South Fulton Parkway) and heads north to the city of East Point and Exit 1 with Washington Road.

07/26/22

The Perimeter Highway meets I-20 in west Atlanta in nine miles and I-75 by Smyrna in 19 miles. I-285 and I-85 converge again at Spaghetti Junction in 33 miles.

06/30/17

Washington Road stems north from U.S. 29/SR 14 (Roosevelt Highway) to converge with Interstate 85 in one half mile.

07/26/22

A parclo interchange (Exit 1) joins the Atlanta Beltway with Washington Road. Washington Road / Avenue curves northeast 4.5 miles to U.S. 29/SR 14-139 (Main Street) at Downtown East Point.

07/26/22

Upcoming Camp Creek Parkway (SR 6) provides a direct route from the west side of the Atlanta Beltway to the Domestic Terminal of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL).

07/26/22

Camp Creek Parkway route doubles as SR 6 from I-285 in East Point through College Park 2.58 miles east to I-85.

07/26/22

Entering the diamond interchange (Exit 2) with Camp Creek Parkway (SR 6) on I-285 north. An array of big box retail lines the parkway west. SR 6 arcs 14.80 miles northwest to U.S. 78 and U.S. 278 at Lithia Springs.

07/26/22

I-285 crosses into the Greenbriar neighborhood of Atlanta a short distance north of Camp Creek Parkway.

07/26/22

Meeting the beltway next is SR 154/166 (Langford Parkway), a freeway leading east along the Atlanta and East Point city line to the Downtown Connector (I-75/85).

07/26/22

SR 154 follows Langford Parkway east to U.S. 29 at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. SR 166 extends east to the freeway end at Lakewood Avenue at the Polar Rock community.

07/26/22

West from I-285 at Exit 5 B, SR 154/166 shift onto Campbellton Road, a commercial boulevard through the Ben Hill Acres and Kings Forest communities.

07/26/22

A directional cloverleaf interchange joins I-285 with SR 154/166 (Langford Parkway). Langford Parkway was named Lakewood Freeway prior to 1995. The urban expressway was intended to continue east to I-20 at Gresham Park in Dekalb County as part of Interstate 420.

07/26/22

SR 154/166 routes overlap another 10.5 miles west from Interstate 285 into Douglas County.

07/26/22

09/06/20

Interstate 285 makes a gradual curve between the Heritage Valley and Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods with eight overall lanes. Exit 7 departs in a mile for Cascade Road, the former alignment of SR 154.

05/06/22

West from I-285 and Exit 7, Cascade Road leaves the Atlanta city limits en route to SR 70 at South Fulton Industrial Park.

05/06/22

Cascade Road heads east from a diamond interchange (Exit 7) with the Atlanta Beltway to the Cascade Heights and Adams Park communities.

05/06/22

Continuing north, I-285 reenters Atlanta at the Mays neighborhood. The succeeding exits link the Perimeter Highway with SR 139 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive) and Interstate 20 at Adamsville.

05/06/22

SR 139 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive) parallels I-20 west to Fulton County Airport-Brown Field and east to the Westview neighborhood in Atlanta. I-20 winds eastward six miles from I-285 to the Capitol Hill Interchange with I-75/85.

07/26/22

A wye interchange at Exit 10 A links Interstate 285 north with I-20 east for Downtown, while Left Exit 10 B connects the beltway with I-20 west to Douglasville.

05/06/22

Interstate 20 passes between Fulton County Airport - Brown Field (FTY) and Six Flags Over Georgia theme park west toward the city of Mableton.

05/06/22

SR 139 (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive) winds east along a five lane boulevard from Exit 9 to Westhaven and the Hamilton E. Holmes Transit (MARTA) Station near SR 280.

05/06/22

Interstate 20 crosses the city of Atlanta east to Gresham Park. The freeway is six more lanes wide east to Covington at Exit 93 and west to Villa Rica at Exit 24.

05/06/22

Exit 10 A partitions with I-285 north for Interstate 20 east to the West End, Grant Park and East Atlanta communities. Within the Perimeter Highway, the freeway is named after civil rights leader Ralph D. Abernathy (1926-1990).

05/06/22

West from I-285 and Atlanta, I-20 travels 135 miles to combine with I-59 south in Birmingham, Alabama. Within Georgia, the freeway is named after Tom Murphy (1924-2007), who was the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives for 30 years.

05/06/22

U.S. 78/278 (Hollowell Parkway) converges with Interstate 285 north at a diamond interchange (Exit 12) one mile north of I-20.

07/26/22

Distance signs referencing the beltway junctions with the radial Interstates into Atlanta appear along both directions of the Perimeter Highway. Only the northern quadrant of I-285 uses interchange sequence signs otherwise.

09/06/20

U.S. 78/278 (Hollowell Parkway) overlap east from Exit 12 to Collier Heights, Center Hill, Grove Park and Bankhead. The pair combine with U.S. 29 across the north side of Downtown Atlanta.

07/26/22

West beyond Atlanta, U.S. 78 (Hollowell Parkway) follows the Bankhead Highway to Birmingham. U.S. 78 parallels I-20 westward to Douglasville, Breman and Anniston, Alabama. U.S. 278 branches northwest from U.S. 78 at Austell en route to Powder Springs, Dallas and Cedartown.

07/26/22

Forthcoming Bolton Road stems northeast from the intersection of U.S. 78/278 (Hollowell Parkway) and SR 70 to the English Park and Riverside neighborhoods.

09/06/20

Bolton Road links the beltway with SR 280 (James Jackson Parkway) at Whittier Mill Village, and Marietta Boulevard at the Bolton community.

09/06/20

Interstate 285 straightens out ahead of both Proctor Creek and the Chattahoochee River.

09/06/20

07/26/22

Crossing into Cobb County, the ensuing exit from the beltway inner loop joins I-285 with SR 280 (S Cobb Drive) on the south side of Smyrna.

09/06/20

A Norfolk Southern Railroad line passes under I-285 a half mile south of the diamond interchange (Exit 15) with SR 280 (S Cobb Drive). SR 280 heads north 1.5 miles to the East-West Connector in Smyrna.

09/06/20

Paralleling SR 280 westward is the Silver Comet Trail, a 61.5 mile long multi use path stretching west from Smyrna to the Alabama state line. Following the former Seaboard Air Line railroad, the rail to trail facility connects with the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama. The Comet Trail was named for a train that ran between Birmingham and Boston by way of Atlanta between 1947 and 1968.¹

09/06/20

Measuring 18.28 miles in length, SR 280 heads south to SR 139 at Florida Heights in Atlanta and north from Smyrna to Fair Oaks, Marietta and Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

09/06/20

Interstate 285 advances north by a number of apartment complexes to the diamond interchange (Exit 16) with S Atlanta Road.

09/06/20

East from Exit 16, Atlanta Road crosses the Chattahoochee River to become Marietta Boulevard through the Bolton community of Atlanta.

09/06/20

Atlanta Road curves northwest from the Perimeter Highway to the Smyrna city center and around the former Naval Air Station Atlanta to Marietta.

09/06/20

The succeeding exit along I-285 north connects with Paces Ferry Road to the community of Vinings. Paces Ferry Road and Paces Mill Road were named after Hardy Pace, an early settler who set up a ferry operation across the Chattahoochee River, a gristmill operation, and tavern near the early settlement of Vinings.²

07/26/22

Paces Ferry Road winds 2.56 miles east from S Atlanta Road to Paces Mill Road in Vinings, wheer the major collector turns southeast across the Chattahoochee River into the Paces neighborhood of Atlanta.

09/06/20

A left exit for the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes along I-75 departs from I-285 north, 1.2 miles beyond the diamond interchange (Exit 18) with Paces Ferry Road.

09/06/20

The community of Vinings began as a stop along the Western & Atlantic Railroad in 1836. The original railroad village was headed by a engineer whose last name was Vinings. Vinings was largely a railroad town and a weekend getaway destination for Atlantans until the early 1900s. By the late 1960s, Atlanta developer Felix Cochran embarked on a process to create a town center, named Vinings Jubilee, with a Victorian architectural element. His project was complete by 1986.²

09/06/20

Exit 19 to U.S. 41/SR 3 (Cobb Parkway) and Exit 20 to Interstate 75 depart over the course of 1.75 miles. The two routes parallel one another throughout the state of Georgia.

07/26/22

U.S. 41 travels northwest along Cobb Parkway, a busy commercial arterial through east Smyrna and Marietta to Dobbins A.R.B. and Kennesaw. Southward into the city of Atlanta at the Paces neighborhood, U.S. 41 becomes Northside Parkway.

09/06/20

The tolled Northwest Corridor Express Lanes accompany Interstate 75 northwest 15.7 miles from nearby Akers Mill Road to Hickory Grove Road at Oak Grove.

09/06/20

A myriad of retail lines Cobb Parkway nearby, including the Cobb Galleria Centre and Cumberland Mall.

07/26/22

The diamond interchange with U.S. 41 (Cobb Parkway) follows the CSX Railroad and Cumberland Boulevard overpasses. Truist Park, the stadium completed in 2017 for the Atlanta Braves MLB franchise, lies just north of Exit 19.

09/06/20

I-285 narrows to five general travel lanes through the cloverstack interchange (Exit 20) with Interstate 75. Two lanes separate at Exit 19 for U.S. 41/SR 3 (Cobb Parkway) followed by a two lane collector distributor road for I-75.

07/26/22

The TKE elevator qualification and test tower rises to a height of 420 feet between I-285 and Circle 75 Parkway. The facility is part of the TK Elevator world headquarters established 2018 in the city of Cumberland.³

07/26/22

Underway from October 2014 to December 2017, construction for the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes, added flyovers linking the Perimeter Highway with the toll lanes extending north along I-75 and I-575 to Sixes Road.

07/26/22

Traffic joins the c/d roadway for Exit 20 from U.S. 41/SR 3 (Cobb Parkway) ahead of the ramp split for Interstate 75 south into Atlanta and north to Marietta, Dalton and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

09/06/20

The "Freeing the Freeways" megaproject reconfigured the exchange at I-75/285 with a new beltway mainline while repurposing the previous I-285 roadways as c/d roadways. A flyover was also added from I-75 south to I-285 east.

09/06/20

A high flyover connects the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes with Interstate 285 above I-75.

09/06/20

A grade level ramp departs from the left side of the c/d roadway for Interstate 75 north. I-75 travels 98 miles northwest to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

09/06/20

The southbound entrance ramp to Interstate 75 from I-285 passes under Akers Mill Road ahead of a slip ramp (Exit 258) for Cumberland Boulevard.

03/15/22