Stone Mountain to InTown (Peachtree - Colony Square Area) Atlanta Commute By Car (Lawrenceville: buy)

[CalihereIcome]

Any idea what this driving commute is like in the morning from Highway 78 (@ West Park Place in Stone Mountain) to in-town ATL (@ High Museum)? Any alternate routes other than Ponce? Any thoughts on the commuter ("Xpress") bus instead of driving (seems a inconvenient in light of limited route -- but I'd rather read a book for two hours than sit in traffic with nothing to do but get ticked off). Thanks in advance.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by CalihereIcome

Any idea what this driving commute is like in the morning from Highway 78 (@ West Park Place in Stone Mountain) to in-town ATL (@ High Museum)? Any alternate routes other than Ponce?

...That is a challenging commute because there are no good alternate driving routes on that commute.

Ponce De Leon Avenue is pretty much almost the only route that you can take between the Park Place area of Stone Mountain and the High Museum in Midtown.

That particular section of the metro area has a notoriously-limited road network any attempts at trying to create an alternate route to the north of Ponce inside of I-285 is sure to turnout even worse than Stone Mountain Freeway-Lawrenceville Highway-Scott Boulevard-Ponce De Leon Avenue.

The only alternative route that I could think of would be to attempt to from the Park Place area, take the Stone Mountain Freeway west to the GA Hwy 10/Memorial Drive exit.

From there take Hwy 10/Memorial Drive west to the first exit, which is EAST Ponce De Leon Avenue.

Exit Hwy 10/Memorial Drive onto East Ponce De Leon Avenue and turn right onto East Ponce De Leon Avenue westbound.

Stay on East Ponce De Leon Avenue for about just under 8 miles to the stoplight at the Sams Crossing/North Acadia Avenue intersection.

Turn left at the stoplight onto southbound Sams Crossing, go over the bridge to the first immediate stoplight at East College Avenue (Hwy 278-10).

Turn right on East College Avenue (Hwy 278-10) westbound and stay on the road for about 2.5 miles to the stoplight at the Rocky Ford Rd NE/North DeKalb Place NE intersection.

Turn right onto North DeKalb Place NE westbound, go under the railroad/MARTA overpass, go through the stoplight immediately on the otherside of the overpass and stay on North DeKalb Place for about one block or so.

Follow North DeKalb Place NE to 3-way stop at Howard Circle NE, go through the 3-way stop intersection and curve to the left onto Howard Circle NE.

Go for another block or so to the stop sign at McLendon Avenue NE.

Keep straight through the stop sign onto McLendon Avenue NE westbound and go about just over a mile to the stoplight at Oakdale Road NE.

Turn right at the stoplight onto Oakdale Road NE northbound and go about 2/5ths-of-a-mile (or about 0.4 miles) to what should be the 2nd 4-way-stop at North Avenue NE (there may not be a streetsign there indicating that the street is North Ave, so the only way to know that the street is North Ave is that the 2nd 4-way stop will be on the north edge of a brief park-like/bike trail area).

Turn left at this 2nd 4-way stop onto North Avenue NE westbound and stay on North Ave NE westbound for 2.3 miles into the Midtown area until you get to about what should be the 9th stoplight at Piedmont Avenue.

Turn right onto Piedmont Avenue northbound, which will be one-way northbound only, and go about 9/10ths-of-a-mile (or 0.9 miles) to what should be the 7th stoplight at 12th Street NE.

Turn left onto 12th Street NE westbound, which will be across from an entrance to Piedmont Park.

Take 12th Street NE westbound to the 2nd stoplight at Peachtree Street and turn right onto Peachtree Street northbound, go about 2 blocks to the stoplight at the major intersection at 14th St and Peachtree and you will be at the Colony Square area.

During the afternoon/evening rush hour go southbound on either Peachtree or Juniper away from the Colony Square area to the stoplight at North Avenue, turn left on North Avenue NE eastbound and repeat.

Originally Posted by CalihereIcome

Any thoughts on the commuter ("Xpress") bus instead of driving (seems a inconvenient in light of limited route -- but I'd rather read a book for two hours than sit in traffic with nothing to do but get ticked off). Thanks in advance.

...As far as trying to avoid driving by taking the GRTA Xpress commuter bus...

You could try catching GRTA Xpress commuter bus Route 424 (Stone Mountain to Downtown Atlanta) from the Stone Mountain Park & Ride lot (where Cub Foods used to be directly across the road from where Best Buy used to be, if you are that familiar with the area), near the southeast corner of East Park Place Blvd and Stone Mountain Highway (Hwy 78-10).
http://www.xpressga.com/index.php?op...d=57&Itemid=75 (GRTA Xpress bus Route 424 maps)
http://www.xpressga.com/images/image...24_dec2012.pdf (GRTA Xpress bus Route 424 schedule)

Take GRTA Xpress bus Route 424 into Downtown Atlanta and exit off the bus at the stop at the Five Points MARTA Station.

From the Five Points MARTA Station, catch either the MARTA Red Line (Old North Line) northbound towards North Springs
http://www.itsmarta.com/ns-fiv.aspx (Five Points Station schedule for the MARTA Red/North Line).

Or catch the MARTA Gold Line (Old Northeast Line) northbound towards Doraville
http://www.itsmarta.com/ne-fiv.aspx (Five Points Station schedule for the MARTA Gold/Northeast Line).

Take either the MARTA Red or Gold Line northbound train 5 stops up to the Arts Center MARTA Station.

Exit the train at the Arts Center MARTA Station and the High Museum is located IMMEDIATELY next to the train station, directly to the east of the Arts Center MARTA Station.
http://www.itsmarta.com/ns-art-overview.aspx (Arts Center MARTA Station guide)
http://www.itsmarta.com/ns-art.aspx (Arts Center Station schedule for the MARTA Red/North Line)
http://www.itsmarta.com/ne-art.aspx (Arts Center Station schedule for the MARTA Gold/Northeast Line)

[CalihereIcome]

How long does the regular drive take in the AM?

[Zanarkand A East]

Xpress is probably your best bet. I'm not sure where it picks up, but I see people dropped off about 2 blocks from Colony Square every morning from as far away as Dacula. The downside is having less flexibility on when you're in town I guess.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

Xpress is probably your best bet. I'm not sure where it picks up, but I see people dropped off about 2 blocks from Colony Square every morning from as far away as Dacula. The downside is having less flexibility on when you're in town I guess.

Xpress...commuting made easy. Operated by the GA Regional Transportation Authority

[NYCnGA]

I worked at Colony Square for 14 years- total commute time from Stone Mountain (Mtn Industrial)30 minutes- Ponce is a pain.
Take 78 like you're traveling to Ponce however-Take a right on North Decatur driving past Emory It will turn into Morningside(after crossing over briarcliff just keep to your right) dead ends into Piedmont Ave(make a left) Follow to 14th and Right turn on Peachtree-- scenic and peaceful ride. Usual commute time 7:30am-8:00am).. there are two traffic circles.. your goal is to go half circle so that your are going straight. Take the drive on a Saturday to get familiar and you'll see it beats Ponce two lanes of crazy

[CalihereIcome]

Thank you for all replies. I just don't understand why the Xpress Bus in Stone Mountain only goes downtown and not to midtown as well. I know from experience that anytime you have to make a connection ...????? I'll probably give it a try though. I am also going to try using North Decatur from 78 instead of Ponce. Appreciate the suggestions. (I really wish that Atlanta would catch up to other big cities on the rapid/public transit thing -- as a driver, I don't think that I have ever seen a FULL XPress Bus or Marta Train go by, they are ALWAYS at least half empty. No doubt due to the fact that they are not convenient for the vast majority of commuters who would rather sit in traffic than (a) catch a bus (b) to a train after having to (c) get a ride to the bus/train. Ridiculous.)