Georgia State Route 400
Georgia State Route 400 (always known locally as Georgia 400 or by its nickname, the "Georgia Autobahn") is a highway in the U.S. state of Georgia that goes from Atlanta at I-85 to Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Alpharetta, Forsyth County, Dawson County, and Dahlonega. Like the interstate highways, it is a limited access road (with exit ramps instead of intersections), but unlike the interstates (which were renumbered by the GDOT in 2000), the exit numbers do not indicate mileage: they still go up sequentially one-by-one. Once 400 passes exit 17 (S.R. 306), it changes from a limited access highway into an at-grade divided highway.
Between Interstate 85 and Interstate 285, Georgia 400 is known as "T. Harvey Mathis Parkway"; upon reaching the Perimeter and beyond, the highway is known as "Turner McDonald Parkway".
The section north of I-285 opened in various stages from 1968 to 1981 and was subsequently widened from its original four lane configuration to eight lanes between I-285 and Holcomb Bridge Road. The widening projects were necessitated by the massive growth that Georgia 400 brought to northern Fulton County and Forsyth County. However, even the widened road has failed to prevent traffic jams during the weekday rush hour.
The southern section of Georgia 400 (from I-285 to I-85) was built last, and is currently the only toll road remaining in Georgia. Opened to traffic on August 1, 1993, this section was fought bitterly by Buckhead residents, who eventually ended up having their homes and large parts of their neighborhoods destroyed for the construction. Many remaining residents now live on dead end streets with significant noise pollution. Existing exits were renumbered up by four to accommodate the extension, which has a single toll booth in the middle of its length, accepting change or cruise cards. There is also currently no way to go from 400 south to 85 north or vice versa, except by a confusing route via Sidney Marcus Boulevard. In addition, the North Line for Atlanta's MARTA system was constructed in the median from the Glenridge Connector to south of Lenox Road and was opened on June 8, 1996.
At one time, Georgia 400 was to connect to Interstate 675 in DeKalb County; however, residents in northern DeKalb County did not want the highway to cut through their neighborhoods and had the idea killed.
T. Harvey Mathis Parkway (Georgia State Toll Route 400) Interchanges and Exit Numbers
Buckhead
- I-85 South (S.R. 403 South)/Downtown Atlanta/Atlanta Airport to I-75 (S.R. 401)/Macon/Marietta/Chattanooga (no number)
- Sidney Marcus Boulevard to I-85 North (S.R. 403 North)/Greenville (exit 1)
- Lenox Road West (S.R. 141 Connector West) to Piedmont Road (S.R. 237) (exit 2)
- Lenox Road East (S.R. 141 Connector East) to Peachtree Road (S.R. 141) (exit 2)
Sandy Springs
- Toll Plaza ($.50 per passenger vehcile) (no number)
- Glenridge Connector East (Unsigned S.R. 407 Loop East) to Peacthree-Dunwoody Road (exit 3)
- Glenridge Connector West (Unsigned S.R. 407 Loop West) to Johnson Ferry Road (exit 3)
Turner McDonald Parkway (Georgia State Route 400/United States Route 19) Interchanges and Exit Numbers
Sandy Springs
- I-285 East (S.R. 407 East)/Greenville/Augusta (exit 4A)
- I-285 West (S.R. 407 West)/Chattanooga/Birmingham (exit 4B)
- Abernathy Road/Dunwoody/Sandy Springs (exit 5) (Southbound)
- Abernathy Road East/Dunwoody (exit 5A) (Northbound)
- Abernathy Road West/Sandy Springs (exit 5B) (Northbound)
- North Springs Train Station/MARTA Parking (exit 5C) (Southbound)
- Northridge Road (exit 6)
Roswell
- Holcomb Bridge Road (S.R. 140)/Roswell/Norcross (exit 7) (Southbound)
- Holcomb Bridge Road East (S.R. 140 East)/Norcross (exit 7A) (Northbound)
- Holcomb Bridge Road West (S.R. 140 West)/Roswell (exit 7B) (Northbound)
Alpharetta
- Mansell Road (exit 8)
- Haynes Bridge Road (exit 9)
- Old Milton Parkway (S.R. 120) (exit 10)
- Windward Parkway (exit 11)
Forsyth County
- McFarland Road (exit 12)
- Peachtree Parkway (S.R. 141) (exit 13)
- Buford Highway (S.R. 20)/Cumming/Buford/(exit 14)
- Bald Ridge Marina Road/Bald Ridge Marina (exit 15)
- Pilgrim Mill Road/Lake Lanier (exit 16)
- Keith Bridge Road (S.R. 306)/Gainesville (exit 17)