When Did Atlanta’s Highways Start Being Built? A Local History Guide

If you live in Atlanta or drive here often, you’ve probably asked yourself: when did all these highways in Atlanta start being built? Understanding that timeline helps explain today’s traffic patterns, neighborhood layouts, and even some of the city’s biggest debates about transportation and equity.

This guide walks through how and when Atlanta’s highway system developed, what parts came first, and how that history still shapes daily life for people who live in or visit Atlanta.

Big Picture: When Did Highway Building Start in Atlanta?

Atlanta’s highways didn’t appear all at once. They came in phases:

• Early auto roads and state highways: 1910s–1930s
• Birth of modern interstates around Atlanta: late 1940s–1950s
• Major construction and expansion: 1960s–1980s
• Rebuilding, widening, and new connectors: 1990s–2000s
• Managed lanes and targeted projects: 2010s to today

If your question is specifically about interstate highway construction in Atlanta, most of the core system you see today — I‑75, I‑85, I‑20, and the Downtown Connector — began construction in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s and 1970s.

Before Interstates: Atlanta’s Early Road Network (1910s–1940s)

From Rail Hub to Road Hub

Atlanta started as a railroad town, not a highway city. But as cars became common in the early 1900s:

• The city and state built paved roads connecting Atlanta to nearby towns.
• Early numbered U.S. highways, like U.S. 41 and U.S. 29, passed through Atlanta.
• Routes followed existing city streets, often passing straight through downtown instead of around it.

For Atlantans at that time, “highway” usually meant a major paved road, not the limited-access interstates we think of today.

The Seed of the Future Interstates

By the 1930s and 1940s, planners were already talking about:

• Bypasses to move traffic around downtown.
• Larger, straighter roads that could handle more vehicles.
• Alignments that would later become parts of I‑75, I‑85, and I‑20.

So while the formal interstate system did not start until the 1950s, the ideas and rough corridors had been taking shape for decades.

The Interstate Era Begins: 1950s in Atlanta

National Highway Push Reaches Atlanta

The major push for modern interstate highways began in the mid‑1950s, after federal legislation launched a nationwide network. Atlanta, already a regional hub, quickly became a focus.

By the late 1950s, Atlanta was actively building:

• I‑75 (north–south)
• I‑85 (north–south)
• I‑20 (east–west)
• The Downtown Connector, where I‑75 and I‑85 merge through central Atlanta

If you drive through the Connector today and see the dense web of lanes and overpasses, you’re looking at infrastructure whose core structure dates back to this period, even though it’s been rebuilt and widened many times since.

Key Highways in Atlanta: When They Started Being Built

Here’s a simplified overview of when major Atlanta highways began construction or took shape as interstates.

For someone living in or visiting Atlanta, this means that most of the main highways you use daily were originally laid out in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Downtown Connector: How and When It Took Shape

If there’s one stretch of highway that defines Atlanta driving, it’s the Downtown Connector.

When Did the Downtown Connector Start Being Built?

• Planning and right‑of‑way acquisition began in the early to mid‑1950s.
• Construction of key segments took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
• Over time, it was widened and modified, especially as traffic volumes grew and downtown evolved.

Today, the Downtown Connector is the central spine of Atlanta’s highway system, carrying I‑75 and I‑85 together through the heart of the city, right by:

• Downtown
• Georgia State University
• Mercedes‑Benz Stadium
• Midtown, just to the north

For locals, understanding that the Connector’s basic footprint dates back to the 1950s explains why it slices directly through older neighborhoods rather than going around them.

I‑285: The Perimeter and Suburban Growth (1960s and Beyond)

When Did I‑285 Start Being Built?

• Construction of I‑285, often called “the Perimeter”, began in the early 1960s.
• The loop around Atlanta was largely completed by the mid‑1960s.

At the time, I‑285 was intended as a bypass to help through‑traffic avoid downtown. Over the following decades:

• Suburbs grew rapidly along the Perimeter.
• Interchanges like I‑75/I‑285 (Cumberland), GA 400/I‑285, and I‑85/I‑285 (Spaghetti Junction) became some of the busiest areas in metro Atlanta.
• The highway was widened and upgraded multiple times.

For someone new to the area, this helps explain why places like Perimeter Center, Cumberland, and Doraville feel like major hubs: they grew up around interchanges built in the 1960s and 1970s and later expanded.

GA 400 and Other Key Corridors

GA 400 Through Atlanta

The GA 400 corridor, especially between Buckhead and north Fulton, developed a bit later:

• Freeway-like sections through Atlanta began forming in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Extensions and upgrades continued in the 1980s and 1990s.
• It later connected more directly into I‑85 and I‑285.

Today, GA 400 is a critical commuter route for people traveling between:

• Downtown / Midtown / Buckhead and
• Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, and beyond

Knowing its timeline helps make sense of why north Fulton and Forsyth County grew so quickly after these highway improvements.

How Highway Construction Changed Atlanta Neighborhoods

For Atlantans, questions about when highways were built are often closely tied to where they were built.

Dividing Lines and Neighborhood Impacts

When interstates and the Connector were constructed in the 1950s–1970s, they:

• Cut through or bordered many historic neighborhoods, often in majority‑Black communities.
• Created physical barriers that separated areas like the Old Fourth Ward, Sweet Auburn, and parts of the west side from downtown and from each other.
• Led to demolition of homes, businesses, and community institutions along the chosen routes.

Today, residents still see the effects:

• I‑20 is a notable dividing line between many central and south Atlanta neighborhoods.
• The Downtown Connector and I‑75/I‑85 ramps create pockets of land that are hard to walk or bike across.
• Neighborhoods on one side of a highway can feel very different economically and physically from those on the other side.

Understanding that most of this was built from the 1950s through the 1970s helps explain why some Atlantans are now pushing for reconnecting neighborhoods, capping parts of highways, or rethinking how new road projects are done.

Modern Changes: Rebuilding, Widening, and Managed Lanes

Rebuilding After the Original Construction

Despite most of the core Atlanta interstate network being built by the 1970s, highway projects never really stopped:

• 1990s–2000s: major reconstruction and widening of parts of the Downtown Connector, I‑285, and interchanges like Spaghetti Junction.
• Bridge replacements and interchange redesigns to improve safety and handle higher traffic.

If you’ve lived in Atlanta for a while, you’ve likely experienced:

• Long‑term lane closures
• New ramp alignments
• Major resurfacing projects

Even though the question is “when did highway building start,” in practice, construction has been ongoing in some form ever since.

Managed Lanes and New Projects (2010s–Present)

In recent years, the focus has shifted more to managed lanes, express lanes, and targeted improvements:

• Express lanes added along sections of I‑75 and I‑85 outside the Perimeter.
• Ongoing plans for future I‑285 express lanes and interchange improvements.
• Projects to support transit, freight movement, and safer local connections around interstates.

For today’s Atlanta driver, this means:

• You may see new work zones even though the main highways themselves are decades old.
• Some changes aim to manage congestion rather than simply add general‑purpose lanes.

Where to Learn More or Ask About Highway Projects in Atlanta

If you’re curious about specific projects, timelines, or upcoming work in your part of Atlanta, you can contact or visit:

• Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT)

  • Main public contact (metro area typically routed through District 7)
  • General information line: (404) 631‑1990
  • Headquarters: 600 West Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30308

• City of Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT)

  • Handles city streets, some local connections, and coordination around interstate projects within city limits.
  • 55 Trinity Ave SW, Suite 4900, Atlanta, GA 30303
  • Main city information line: (404) 330‑6000

These agencies regularly share maps, construction schedules, and project updates that can help you understand how ongoing work connects back to the original highway system built in the mid‑20th century.

Quick Answer Recap for Atlantans

If you just need the core takeaway:

• Highway building in Atlanta began in earnest in the early 1900s with paved state and U.S. highways.
• Modern interstate construction in Atlanta — I‑75, I‑85, I‑20, and the Downtown Connector — started in the 1950s.
• The Perimeter (I‑285) was built in the 1960s.
• Corridors like GA 400 and major interchanges were added or expanded from the 1960s through the 1990s.
• Since then, Atlanta has seen ongoing widening, rebuilding, and managed‑lane projects, but the basic highway skeleton you drive on today dates back mainly to the 1950s–1970s.