More than just full of haunted hotels, historical churches and cemeteries, and a hub for Southern cuisine and culture, Georgia’s highways are full of their own wonder. From design to execution, Georgia has nearly a century’s worth of history to talk about. If you wander away from the interstate toward Elberton, you’ll also find the granite capital of the world!
With fifteen interstates, Georgia is tenth in the nation when it comes superhighways. Georgia Native, General Lucius Clay, managed the Berlin Airlift and the rebuilding of Germany after World War II. Afterward, he headed home to be the principal architect for the interstate highway system, bringing around Interstates 75, 85, and 20 through Atlanta. One of these, I-75, connects Georgia to the rest of the US along with US-95: 95 does so via the coastline, and 75 runs from the Georgia’s southern border with Florida to its northwestern corner.
Overall, I-75 is 1,786 miles, traveling through Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida and is integral to keeping these states connected with the rest of the nation. In Georgia, it makes up 355 miles of the interstate. This highway’s origin starts all the way back in 1916, as the western routing of the Dixie Highway. What would eventually become I-75 was an unnamed expressway in the southern part of Atlanta, which opened in 1951. In 1963, local officials managed to bring I-75 through Macon, but it wasn’t until 1970 that the road was open to everyone in the state.
Though I-75 was “completed” in 1970, it has seen major revisions over time and continues to always be improved upon. In 2023, CommuteDash listed 3 months-long projects and the Georgia Department of Transportation started an 8-year project to handle congestions, crashes, and high levels of freight, to create operational and technological improvements, and to create barriers separating commercial and general traffic.
Why does Georgia constantly work to improve I-75? This 6 to 16-lane highway carries 85% of freight across the state, earning its official designation as a freight corridor. The Georgia Department of Transportation reported 27, 680, 000 miles traveled on I-75 in recent years. Other traffic studies show that it carries 110,000-160,000 vehicles per day, 35,000-38,000 of that number being commercial trucks. This is also why I-75 has earned the title as Georgia’s deadliest interstate, with 84 more accidents, 20 more injuries, and 1 more fatality per year than average. In the summer months, there are an average of 111 deaths. With so much heavy traffic, Georgia seeks to improve the route not just for locals but for commercial vehicles as well.
Since we’re on the subject of fatalities, let’s talk about what makes Georgia truly unique: Elberton, Georgia. Located closer to I-85, this little spot happens to be the “Granite Capital of the World.” While granite is primarily used for countertops, buildings, or crushed to make gravel for sidewalk curbs, this quarry’s focus is memorial stones. A natural wonder, 325 million years ago, magma rose through the earth’s crust and cooled, creating Georgia’s massive granite quarry. In 1889, it was first opened commercially, and then turned into a monument shop in 1897—and is still going! Other unique sites are the Granite Bowl, a former ravine that was transformed into a football stadium built in 1952, made nearly entirely out of granite.
Whether it’s going across the coastline along the hectic I-75 or veering off I-85 to check out Elberton’s natural wonders, remember that Interstate Signways made the signs that guided the way!
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