Interstate 75 in Georgia

Services

The Georgia Department of Transportation operates two welcome centers at both ends of Interstate 75 and nine rest areas, the most of any interstate highway within the state. The northbound welcome center is located between exits 2 and 5 ^[12] The southbound welcome center is located between exits 353 and 350.^[13] The other rest areas include two in Cook County, two in Turner County, two in Dooly County, one southbound rest area in Monroe County, and two in Gordon County.^[14]

Early national highways

The general routing of I-75 within Georgia was originally developed as the western routing of the Dixie Highway. The western route of the Dixie Highway as designated in 1916, followed present-day US 41 south from the Tennessee border through Atlanta and Macon south to Echeconnee, Georgia. The section that would become US 41, I-75's direct predecessor, from Echeconnee south through Perry and Valdosta to the border with Florida was paved beginning in 1919 and was later designated as a part of the Dixie Highway in 1924. In 1926, the western route of the Dixie Highway following the newer Perry and Valdosta route was officially designated as US 41. By October 1929, the majority of US 41 was paved in Georgia, the only sections that were not paved at that point were between Fort Oglethorpe and Ringgold, and another on the south side of Calhoun.^[15]

1950s

The first section of the highway that would eventually become I-75 in Georgia were portions of the Downtown Connector that were integrated into the Interstate Highway System.^[16][17] The first section, located between Williams Street and the Brookwood Interchange, began construction in September 1948 and opened on September 25, 1951.^[18] By late 1953, this expressway was signed as US 19/US 41 as far north as Lakewood Avenue. It was also under construction to Howell Mill Road, and proposed from this road to the northwest part of Atlanta.^[17][19] By mid-1954, the expressway was signed as SR 295 from Lakewood Avenue to University Avenue. It was under construction from the Downtown Connector to US 41/SR 3E, just north of West Paces Ferry Road.^[19][20] By mid-1955, the highway was under construction from University Avenue to Glenn Street. It was open from Williams Street to US 41/SR 3E in the central part of Atlanta.^[20][21] A 1.4-mile (2.3 km) section between University Avenue and Richardson Street began in March 1955 and was dedicated and opened on July 25, 1957.^[22][23] The 0.6 mi-long (0.97 km) stretch from Piedmont Avenue to Williams Street opened on May 5, 1959.^[24] On October 9, 1959, a 37-mile (60 km) section in Turner and Tift Counties was dedicated and opened to traffic by Governor Ernest Vandiver. At the ceremony, Vandiver also unveiled the first Interstate Highway shield used in Georgia.^[25][26]

1960s

On September 21, 1962, two separate sections totalling 51 miles (82 km)– from US 84/221 in Valdosta to Ashburn, and from Hahira to Unadilla–opened to traffic.^[27][28] On July 15, 1963, the 26-mile (42 km) section between Florida State Road 6 near Jasper, Florida, and US 84/US 221 was jointly opened to traffic in a dedication ceremony at the state line by Georgia Governor Carl Sanders and Florida Governor C. Farris Bryant.^[29][30] This completed I-75 from the state line to US 41/SR 7 in Unadilla. On May 27, 1964, the 14-mile (23 km) section between Unadilla and Perry opened to traffic.^[31] The final stretch of the Downtown Connector, 2.3 miles (3.7 km) between Richardson Street and Piedmont Avenue, including the interchange with I-20,^[32] opened on September 18, 1964.^[33][34] On December 8, 1964, the state announced the opening of the 16-mile (26 km) section between SR 53 in Calhoun and US 41 south of Dalton.^[35] The 19-mile (31 km) section between US 41/76 in Dalton and the Tennessee state line was announced to have been opened two days later.^[36] In 1966, the highway was open from the Florida state line to its southern interchange with I-475 near Macon. It was open from I-16 to US 23/SR 42 near Forsyth. It was open from Forest Park to its northern interchange with I-285.^[37] The 6.3-mile (10.1 km) section between SR 140 in Adairsville and SR 53 in Calhoun opened on December 7, 1966.^[38][39] The five-mile (8.0 km) section between I-285 and SR 120 in Marietta opened in January 1967.^[40][41] On March 6, 1967, the short stretch in Macon between I-16 and SR 247 (Pierce Avenue), along with a short stretch of I-16 extending to Main Street, was dedicated and opened to traffic.^[42] The 13.5-mile (21.7 km) section from SR 247 in Macon and Bolingbroke was completed in late April 1967.^[43] The 1.8-mile (2.9 km) segment in Marietta between SR 120 and Allgood Road was completed and opened on August 14, 1968.^[44] The section between US 23/SR 42 near Forsyth and SR 20 in McDonough opened on November 18, 1968.^[45] The section from SR 20 in McDonough to SR 54 in Morrow opened on October 15, 1969, completing I-75 between Macon and Atlanta.^[46] It was under construction from US 411/SR 61 near Cartersville to SR 140 in Adairsville.^[47] In 1969, the highway was under construction from its southern interchange with I-475 to I-16 in Macon. It was open from I-16 to Allgood Road in Marietta.^[47][48]

1970s

The southbound lanes of the 12-mile (19 km) stretch between US 411 in Cartersville and SR 140 in Adairsville opened on September 1, 1971.^[49] The remainder of this stretch was opened to traffic and dedicated by Governor Jimmy Carter and state highway director Bert Lance on September 30, 1971.^[50] Construction on the six-mile (9.7 km) section between the southern interchange with I-475 and US 80/SR 22 in Macon began on May 7, 1969, and was dedicated and opened to traffic on November 24, 1971.^[51][52] In 1971, it was open from the Florida state line to Allgood Road in Marietta.^[53][54] In 1973, it was under construction from Marietta to SR 92 in Acworth.^[55][56] The five-mile (8.0 km) section between Allgood Road and Barrett Parkway (then Roberts Road) in Marietta opened on November 27, 1974, eliminating one of the worst bottlenecks on US 41.^[57][58] That year, the highway was under construction from Emerson to US 411/SR 61 near Cartersville.^[56][59] The last segment of I-75 in Georgia, located between Barrett Parkway in Marietta and US 411 in Cartersville, was dedicated and opened on December 21, 1977.^[60][61]

Since completion

Much of the work to widen interstates across Atlanta including I-75 from six to eight lanes and the Downtown Connector to 10 lanes including the elimination of sharp curves and grades, left-hand exits, excessive interchanges, and short acceleration/deceleration lanes, took place in the 1980s. Construction began with widening I-285 first, beginning in 1976, continued to the radiating expressways, and concluded with the depressed sections of the Downtown Connector which were completed in 1988. I-75 widening from I-285 and Aviation Boulevard to the Downtown Connector was completed by late 1984. I-75 widening from the Brookwood Interchange to the Chattahoochee River and Cobb County line was widened in the early 1980s and completed by 1985. Work on the Downtown Connector portion began in 1984, and included redesigning the massive interchange between I-20 and I-75/I-85 and the design and construction of 55 bridges over the connector portion alone.^[62] The project was completed in November 1988.

In addition to the general-purpose lanes added in the 1980s, provisions for high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) and dedicated onramps at Williams Street, Piedmont Avenue, and Memorial Drive were built and were subsequently converted to HOV usage in 1996 on the Downtown Connector. In 1996, HOV lanes were also added from I-285 on the south side of Atlanta to I-285 on the north side of Atlanta.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, the portion of I-75 that from the Chattahoochee River north to the Tennessee state line was named the Larry McDonald Memorial Highway.^[63] Larry McDonald, a conservative Democratic representative to Congress, was aboard Korean Air Lines Flight 007 when it was shot down by the Soviet Union on September 1, 1983. He was the only sitting Congressperson to be reportedly killed by the Soviets during the Cold War.^{[citation needed]} I-75 was also designated as the Horace E. Tate Freeway between I-85 to I-285 northwest of Downtown Atlanta, in honor of Horace Tate, who was a state senator in 1974.^{[when?][citation needed]}

Until 2000, the state of Georgia used the sequential interchange numbering system on all of its Interstate Highways. The first exit on each highway would begin with the number "1" and increase numerically with each exit. In 2000, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) switched to a mileage-based exit system, in which the exit number corresponded to the nearest milepost.^[64][65]

In March 2007, I-75's HOV ramp serving Northside Drive in Atlanta was the site of the Bluffton University bus crash where 7 out 35 people on board the bus were killed.^[66]

The highway had a lane widening project completed in 2011, allowing the entirety of the Interstate in Georgia to be three lanes in each direction.^[4] On January 28, 2017, the new Peach Pass-only South Metro Express Lanes from SR 155 to SR 138 and I-675, opened.^[67] On September 8, 2018, new Northwest Corridor Express Lanes from the I-285/I-75 interchange to Hickory Grove Road and from I-75/I-575 interchange to Sixes Road have opened, the lanes require a Peach Pass to use.^[68]