The city of Atlanta has a reputation for bad traffic, but there are a few spots in particular known for giving drivers headaches.

According to the Atlanta Regional Commission, these stretches of road are notorious for bottlenecks – “segments of roadways where traffic speed has fallen below 60% of the referenced speed for at least 5 minutes.” The impact factor for these instances of congestion, which determines the ARC’s rankings, is measured by the amount of time a bottleneck takes place, the average length in distance of the bottleneck and the number of times a stretch of road was classified as a bottleneck.

Using this measurement, the ARC ranked the Southbound Downtown Connector at exit 247 as the top traffic-congestor inside the perimeter. This stretch of highway witnessed 119 bottlenecks in September, with an average bottleneck length of 3.6 miles and an average time duration of five hours and 10 minutes.

Some locations, notably Interstate-85 Southbound at exit 85 with 130 occurrences, may have had more traffic buildup, and others may have had bottlenecks that stretch further, like Interstate-75 Northbound at exit 271 with an average length of 9.1 miles. But the No. 1 spot on the ARC’s ranking had the most perfect combination of frustrating factors in September to keep local drivers seething behind the wheel.

This story is part of a partnership with the Atlanta Regional Commission.

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