The Outer Perimeter
was an expressway originally planned to encircle Atlanta about 20 to 25 miles (about 30 to 40 km) further away from the city than the existing Perimeter Highway (I-285).
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GEORGIA 500 TICKETS
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Planning
The original plan of the highway was to have roughly gone through or near the communities of
Cartersville,
Canton,
Cumming,
Buford,
Dacula,
Loganville,
Conyers,
McDonough,
Hampton,
Newnan,
Peachtree City,
Villa Rica, and
Dallas. The roadway was to have roughly paralleled
State Route 20, which goes around three sides of Atlanta.
A later incarnation of the highway only encompassed what was termed the
Northern Arc
and included the portion of the original planned highway from
Interstate 75 near Cartersville across to
Interstate 85 near the
Mall of Georgia in Buford. One proposal tied to this version would have reportedly limited exits to five major
highway interchanges, at the freeways that crossed it: I-75;
I-575;
Georgia 400;
I-985; and I-85.
The Northern Arc was to have been a
toll road under another proposal, which advocates say would have kept most local traffic away from the highway, while freeing it for trucks. Opponents said that despite the toll, the road would have encouraged additional development and congestion, creating the continued
urban sprawl that, at times, threatens to overwhelm areas much closer to Atlanta-proper.
Route designation
The highway was to have been officially designated
Georgia state route 500
. Although officially denied by the
GDOT, it may also have carried an internal
Interstate Highway number of
Interstate 485
. Advocates of the highway touted its use by long-distance truck drivers to have them completely avoid the congestion of the highways much closer to Atlanta.
The original Perimeter, I-285, which was originally planned as a
bypass of the city and was completed in 1969, has in effect become one of the main freeway routes for both local traffic and traffic passing through the Atlanta area.
Current status
Budgetary constraints, political pressure, and public opposition supposedly killed plans for both incarnations of the road. However, the Northern Arc resurfaced in February 2007, with suggestions that it be placed further north, out of the current path of
exurban
land development.
References