Downtown Connector

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In Atlanta, Georgia, the Downtown Connector or 75/85 (said as "seventy-five eighty-five") is the multiplexed route of Interstate 75 and Interstate 85 through the core of the city, including downtown and midtown. Mile markers and exit numbers have always been posted according to I-75 only, but once re-joining I-85 the numbers continue as if the motorist were traveling I-85 the entire time (not just picking up where they left off). The Downtown Connector runs generally due north-south, and meets the east-west Interstate 20 in the middle. Just north of this is the Grady Curve around Grady Memorial Hospital. Further up, the northern terminus is the Brookwood Interchange or Brookwood Split in the Brookwood area of the city.

Related Topics:
Atlanta, Georgia - Multiplex - Route - Interstate 75 - Interstate 85 - Downtown - Midtown - Mile marker - Interstate 20 - Grady Memorial Hospital - Brookwood

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The highway was constructed in the early 1950s as a six-lane thoroughfare, and was heavily reconstructed during the 1980s as part of the "Freeing the Freeways" program to widen Atlanta-area interstates. Today the highway carries as many as 15 lanes of traffic in some sections, placing it among the widest roads in the world. The proposed Interstate 475 was originally planned by GDOT to carry some of this traffic through the eastern side of the city, but most of this was cancelled in the 1970s under Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia. (Parts of that road are now Interstate 675 and Georgia 400.)

Related Topics:
1950s - 1980s - GDOT - 1970s - Jimmy Carter - Governor of Georgia - Interstate 675 - Georgia 400

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The city's skyline, both Downtown and Midtown Atlanta, can be seen from the highway, especially at the northern and southern ends. The route also goes directly past Turner Field at Centennial Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies (and other events) were held for the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics.

Related Topics:
Skyline - Midtown Atlanta - Turner Field - 1996 Summer Olympics

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