Atlanta Has Worst Traffic Jams, Truckers Say

ATLANTA, GA — The nation's truckers know something that Atlanta-area commuters are all too familiar with: traffic jams in and around the city can be the worst.

Seven Atlanta intersections appear on the American Transportation Research Institute's newly released 2017 list of the nation's 100 Top Truck Bottlenecks.

And ranking No. 1, as the absolute worst spot for traffic backups in the country? The intersection of Interstate 285 and Interstate 85.

It's the second straight year that "Spaghetti Junction" has topped the group's list.

The research institute is an arm of the American Trucking Associations, the largest trade association for the trucking industry in the United States.

The list assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system. The analysis, based on truck GPS data from more than 600,000 heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location.

"With President Trump expected to press for significant long-term infrastructure spending, this ATRI analysis should be a key guide for deciding what projects are worthy of funding," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear in a news release.

"Ensuring the safe and efficient movement of goods should be a national priority and this report draws attention to the places where our highway network needs improvement in order to meet that goal."

According to data from this year's list, trucks' average speed at the northbound juncture of I-285 and I-85 is 38 m.p.h., with that average dropping to 26 m.p.h. during rush hours.

Also making the list's Top 10 was the northbound intersection of Interstate 75 and Interstate 285, which came in ninth-worst in the nation. Average speeds there are 44 m.ph., dropping to 33 m.p.h. during rush hours.

The other Atlanta intersections making the list were:

• No. 14 I-20 at I-285 (West)
• No. 43 I-20 at I-285 (East)
• No 62 I-20 at I-75/I-85
• No. 66 I-75 at I-675
• No. 73 I-75 at I-85

According to the ATRI, congestion on the nation's highways costs the trucking industry $49.6 billion a year. That cost comes from 728 million lost hours of industry productivity — the equivalent of 264,500 truck drivers sitting still for an entire year.

While Atlanta's seven traffic hot spots was good for second-most, Houston actually has the most locations on the 2017 map with nine. But the Texas city's worst bottleneck comes in at only No. 8, one spot ahead of Atlanta's second entry on the list.

Famous for its brutal rush hours, Los Angeles only had three locations on the list.

Photo via Pixabay