Northside Drive

Northside Drive
Name	Northside Drive
Location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Length mi	10.2
Termini	West Peachtree Street (south) – Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway (north)
Maintained by	Georgia Department of Transportation; City of Atlanta

Northside Drive Northside Drive is a major arterial roadway in Atlanta, Georgia that runs through Buckhead, West Midtown, and parts of English Avenue and Vine City. The corridor connects districts near Georgia Institute of Technology, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and Piedmont Park while providing access to interchanges with I-75, I-85, and US 41. The route serves commercial, residential, institutional, and sports-related destinations, linking nodes such as Georgia State University’s urban campuses and civic venues including State Farm Arena and Georgia World Congress Center.

Route description

Northside Drive begins near the southern edge of Downtown Atlanta close to intersections with West Peachtree Street and proceeds northward past the Georgia State Capitol area toward the Coca-Cola Roxy and Atlantic Station. The roadway crosses corridors adjacent to I-75/I-85 and parallels sections of US 19 before entering the Georgia Tech neighborhood. Moving north, Northside Drive provides access to Georgia World Congress Center and Mercedes-Benz Stadium and continues through Castleberry Hill toward Howell Mill Road. In its northern reaches, the drive traverses Buckhead commercial districts, skirts Piedmont Hospital and intersects with Peachtree Road near Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza before terminating near Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and connections to SR 3.

History

The corridor evolved from early 19th-century cart routes used by Cherokee people and antebellum settlers moving through what became DeKalb County and Fulton County. During the post-Civil War reconstruction era after the American Civil War, industrial expansion and the arrival of the Georgia Railroad reshaped transit patterns that later influenced Northside Drive’s alignment. In the 20th century, urbanization related to The Coca-Cola Company and Southern Railway facilities spurred commercial development along adjacent streets. Mid-century highway projects driven by agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration and Georgia Department of Transportation led to interchange construction with I-75 and I-85, while late-20th-century revitalization efforts linked the corridor to projects like the redevelopment of Atlantic Station and the construction of Georgia State University satellite facilities. Recent decades have seen redevelopment influenced by events at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the arrival of Major League Soccer with Atlanta United FC.

Major intersections

Key intersections and junctions along the route include crossings with I-20 near English Avenue, the interchange with I-75/I-85 in the Downtown Atlanta complex, a junction with West Peachtree Street, the interchange with Howell Mill Road near West Midtown, and connections to Peachtree Road and Lenox Road. Other notable crossings serve US 41, SR 3, and access ramps to Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and Hollowell Parkway that tie into regional arterials. These intersections link to surface collectors serving Castleberry Hill, Midtown Atlanta, Buckhead Village, and Atlanta Medical Center access routes.

Transportation and transit

Northside Drive functions as a multimodal corridor serving buses operated by Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) and regional shuttles for institutions like Georgia Tech and Emory University. The drive provides paratransit connections coordinated with MARTA Bus Route 1 and other local routes that integrate with MARTA rail stations such as Garnett station and North Avenue station via feeder services. Freight movements use adjacent freight lines owned by Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation with intermodal transfer nodes connecting to regional highways including I-75 and I-20. Bicycle and pedestrian improvements have been proposed in coordination with Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. planning and Atlanta Regional Commission funding programs, and connections to Bicycle Atlanta routes seek to link the corridor to Piedmont Park and Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area trailheads.

Landmarks and neighborhoods

Prominent landmarks along or near the corridor include Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena, Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlantic Station, Piedmont Park, and medical institutions such as Piedmont Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital. The drive passes neighborhoods and districts including Castleberry Hill, West Midtown, English Avenue, Vine City, and Buckhead, each associated with cultural and historical sites like the Margaret Mitchell House, Center for Civil and Human Rights, and redevelopment areas tied to the 1996 Summer Olympics legacy projects. Civic venues such as Fox Theatre and commercial centers like Lenox Square are accessible via short arterials from the corridor.

Future developments and projects

Planned projects affecting the corridor include roadway modernization proposals funded through the Georgia Department of Transportation and City of Atlanta capital improvement programs, transit enhancements coordinated by MARTA and grants from the Federal Transit Administration. Redevelopment initiatives tied to BeltLineAtlanta BeltLine, Inc. plans and private investment aim to increase mixed-use density near Atlantic Station and West Midtown nodes. Stadium-area infrastructure upgrades linked to Major League Soccer operations and event management for Super Bowl LIII-level events continue to influence traffic demand modeling by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Proposed pedestrianization, bus rapid transit demonstrations, and complete-streets retrofits are being considered alongside zoning changes enacted by the City of Atlanta and development partners such as Cousins Properties and Selig Enterprises.

Category:Streets in Atlanta