View source for Stone Mountain Freeway

{{Short description|Highway in Georgia}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox road
| state = GA
| type = US
| marker_image = [[Image:US 78.svg|x65px]] [[Image:Georgia 10.svg|x65px]] [[Image:Georgia 410.svg|x65px]]
| name = Stone Mountain Freeway
| alternate_name = Bill Evans Highway
| map = {{maplink-road|from=Stone Mountain Freeway.map}}
| map_custom = yes
| length_mi = 10.1
| length_ref = <ref name="Google">{{google maps |url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=US-78+E&daddr=US-78+E+to:US-78+E+to:US-78+E+to:US-78+E+to:US-78+E+to:US-78+E+to:GA-10+E%2FUS-78+E%2FStone+Mountain+Hwy&hl=en&ll=33.826505,-84.198532&spn=0.151445,0.220757&sll=33.822935,-84.114107&sspn=0.002366,0.003449&geocode=FaPWAwIdgRH6-g%3BFUfuAwIdGU_6-g%3BFfUbBAIdmqj6-g%3BFRpHBAIdPSj7-g%3BFewUBAIdnqX7-g%3BFRQdBAId9P37-g%3BFVMXBAId7jD8-g%3BFTkYBAIdcYP8-g&mra=mi&mrsp=7&sz=18&t=h&z=12 |title=Overview map of Stone Mountain Freeway |access-date=September 9, 2013 }}</ref>
| length_round = 1
| allocation = {{Plainlist|
* {{jct|state=GA|US|78}} from the [[Scottdale, Georgia|Scottdale]]–[[North Decatur, Georgia|North Decatur]] line to northeast of [[Stone Mountain Park]]
* {{jct|state=GA|SR|410}} from the Scottdale–North Decatur line to north of Stone Mountain Park
* {{jct|state=GA|SR|10}} from north of Stone Mountain to northeast of Stone Mountain Park
}}
| direction_a = West
| terminus_a = {{jct|state=GA|US|29|US|78|SR|8}} on the [[Scottdale, Georgia|Scottdale]]–[[North Decatur, Georgia|North Decatur]] line
| junction = {{jct|state=GA|I|285}} on the Scottdale–[[Clarkston, Georgia|Clarkston]] city line
| direction_b = East
| terminus_b = {{jct|state=GA|US|78|SR|10}} northeast of [[Stone Mountain Park]]
| established = 1970<ref name="GDOT 1969">{{cite GDOT map |year=1969 |access-date=September 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="GDOT 1970">{{cite GDOT map |year=1970 |access-date=September 9, 2013 }}</ref>
| counties = [[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]], [[Gwinnett County, Georgia|Gwinnett]]
| browse = {{ga browse|previous_type=SR|previous_route=409|route=SR&nbsp;410|next_type=US|next_route=411}}
}}

'''Stone Mountain Freeway''' is a [[limited-access road|freeway]] in the north-central part of the U.S. state of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. It connects [[Interstate 285 (Georgia)|Interstate 285]] (I-285) east of [[Atlanta]], with the [[suburb]]s of [[Stone Mountain, Georgia|Stone Mountain]] and [[Snellville, Georgia|Snellville]] before transitioning into an [[arterial road]] that continues to [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]]. The freeway is signed as [[U.S. Route 78 in Georgia|U.S. Route&nbsp;78]] (US&nbsp;78) for its entire length, with the western half signed as '''State Route&nbsp;410''' (SR&nbsp;410), and the eastern half also being signed as [[Georgia State Route 10|SR&nbsp;10]]. It begins at the [[U.S. Route 29 in Georgia|US&nbsp;29]]/US&nbsp;78 split northeast of [[Decatur, Georgia|Decatur]], and continues east through eastern [[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb]] and southern [[Gwinnett County, Georgia|Gwinnett]] counties. The portion of Stone Mountain Freeway from I-285 to the Dekalb/Gwinnett county line is alternatively designated as '''Bill Evans Highway.'''

==Route description==
[[File:Stone Mountain Freeway at exit 5.png|250px|right|thumb|Eastbound Stone Mountain Freeway at Exit 5.]]
Stone Mountain Freeway begins at an [[Interchange (road)|interchange]] with [[U.S. Route 29 in Georgia|US&nbsp;29]]/[[Georgia State Route 8|SR&nbsp;8]] (Lawrenceville Highway) on the [[Scottdale, Georgia|Scottdale]]–[[North Decatur, Georgia|North Decatur]] city line, within [[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb County]]. There is no access to US&nbsp;29/SR&nbsp;8 north from Stone Mountain Freeway or to Stone Mountain Freeway from US&nbsp;29/SR&nbsp;8 south. Both can only be accessed via North Druid Hills Road. Southwest of this interchange, US&nbsp;29/[[U.S. Route 78 in Georgia|US&nbsp;78]]/SR&nbsp;8 head toward [[Decatur, Georgia|Decatur]]. Stone Mountain Freeway travels to the northeast, [[Concurrency (road)|concurrent]] with US&nbsp;78 and SR&nbsp;410. The concurrency has a partial interchange with Valley Brook Road and North Druid Hills Road. Just before leaving Scottdale is an interchange with [[Interstate 285 (Georgia)|Interstate 285]] (I-285). Part of this interchange is within the [[city limits]] of [[Clarkston, Georgia|Clarkston]]. The two highways travel to the north of [[Clarkston, Georgia|Clarkston]] and enter [[Tucker, Georgia|Tucker]]. They have an interchange with Brockett Road and Cooledge Road, and then one more with Mountain Industrial Boulevard. After leaving Tucker, they have an interchange with [[Georgia State Route 10|SR&nbsp;10]] ([[Memorial Drive (Atlanta)|Memorial Drive]]). At this interchange, SR&nbsp;410 meets its eastern terminus, and SR&nbsp;10 begins a concurrency with US&nbsp;78 and Stone Mountain Freeway. They have an interchange with the former eastern terminus of [[Georgia State Route 236|SR&nbsp;236]] until 2024 (Hugh Howell Road), which travels back towards Tucker. A little bit later is an access road to [[Stone Mountain Park]]'s main entrance. Right after the park, the highways enter Gwinnett County and have a partial interchange with Park Place Boulevard and Rockbridge Road. Just to the east of this interchange, the freeway ends and US&nbsp;78/SR&nbsp;10 continue to the east, locally known as Stone Mountain Highway.<ref name="Google"/>

West of Exit 1, the [[speed limit]] is {{convert|55|mph|km/h}}. East of the interchange with North Druid Hills Road, the limit rises to {{convert|65|mph|km/h}}.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} Unlike Georgia's [[Interstate highway]]s, the highway still has actual sequential exit numbers, rather than being mileage-based.{{Citation needed|date=September 2013}} There is no exit 6, which makes the exit numbering non-sequential; the former Exit 6 was the back entrance to [[Stone Mountain Park]] via Old Hugh Howell Road, previously open for major events only.

All of Stone Mountain Freeway is included as part of the [[National Highway System (United States)|National Highway System]], a system of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.<ref name="NHS Atlanta">{{cite map |author = Federal Highway Administration |author-link = Federal Highway Administration |title = National Highway System: Atlanta, GA |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/nhs_maps/georgia/atlanta_ga.pdf |format = PDF |scale = Scale not given |location = Washington, DC |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |date = October 1, 2012 |access-date = September 9, 2013 }}</ref>

==History==
Stone Mountain Freeway was under construction in 1967 along the same alignment as it travels today.<ref name="GDOT 1967">{{cite GDOT map |year=1967 |access-date=September 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="GDOT 1968">{{cite GDOT map |year=1968 |access-date=September 9, 2013 }}</ref> By 1970, the highway was completed.<ref name="GDOT 1969"/><ref name="GDOT 1970"/>

===Controversy===
{{Main|Atlanta freeway revolts}}
{{see also|Interstate 485 (Georgia)|Interstate 675 (Georgia)}}

The Stone Mountain Freeway shares state route number 10 with [[Freedom Parkway]], a {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} road in central Atlanta that connects with the [[Interstate Highway System]] at a major interchange on [[Interstate 75 in Georgia|I-75]]/[[Interstate 85 in Georgia|I-85]] (the [[Downtown Connector]]). As that designation suggests, state officials originally intended the Stone Mountain Freeway to continue west,{{Clarify|date=September 2013}} through [[Decatur, Georgia|Decatur]], [[Druid Hills, Georgia|Druid Hills]], and [[Candler Park]], to [[downtown Atlanta]]. In pursuit of those plans, in 1969, the [[GDOT]] purchased an X-shaped swath of land designed to carry two roads: [[Interstate 485 (Georgia)|I-485]], traveling from west to east, and another freeway connecting what are now [[Georgia State Route 400|SR&nbsp;400]] to the north and [[Interstate 675 (Georgia)|I-675]] to the south.{{Citation needed|date=October 2007}}

Neighborhood groups and local [[historic preservation|preservationists]] worked together to block [[road construction]] of the highways. After 20 years of [[litigation]] and political maneuvering, community groups and state and local officials in 1991 [[compromise]]d and set much of the state-purchased [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] aside as parkland, later named [[Freedom Park (Atlanta)|Freedom Park]]. The land proposed as the interchange of the two cancelled highways, by then, had become the site of the [[Carter Center]].

Freedom Parkway&nbsp;– the last vestige of the planned downtown link of the Stone Mountain Freeway&nbsp;– opened in 1994.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hotchkiss |first=Judy |title=Long-Awaited Roadway Opening in Late Summer |work=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=June 9, 1994 |page=E13 }}</ref>

==Exit list==
{{jcttop|exit|state=GA|length_ref=<ref name="Google"/>}}
{{GAint|exit
|county=DeKalb
|cspan=8
|location1=Scottdale
|location2=North Decatur
|type=concur
|mile=0.0
|exit=
|road={{jct|state=GA|US|29|dir1=south|US|78|dir2=west|SR|8|dir3=west|SR|410|dir4=begins|name3=Lawrenceville Highway|city1=Decatur|city2=Atlanta}}
|notes=Western end of US&nbsp;78 and SR&nbsp;410 concurrencies; western terminus of SR&nbsp;410 and Stone Mountain Freeway; no access to or from US&nbsp;29 north / SR&nbsp;8 east
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location=Scottdale
|type=incomplete
|mile=0.5
|exit=1
|road=Valley Brook Road / North Druid Hills Road
|notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location1=Scottdale
|location2=Clarkston
|mile=1.0
|exit=2
|road={{jct|state=GA|I|285|name1=Atlanta Bypass / [[Georgia State Route 407|SR&nbsp;407]]|location1=[[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]]|location2=[[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]]|city3=Augusta|city4=Macon}}
|notes=I-285 exit 39
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location=Tucker
|lspan=2
|mile=2.5
|exit=3
|road=Brockett Road / Cooledge Road
}}
{{GAint|exit
|mile=4.6
|exit=4
|road=Mountain Industrial Boulevard
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location=none
|type=concur
|mile=6.8
|exit=5
|road={{jct|state=GA|SR|10|dir1=west|name1=[[Memorial Drive (Atlanta)|Memorial Drive]]|SR|410|dir2=ends|city1=Stone Mountain}}
|notes=Western end of SR&nbsp;10 concurrency; eastern end of SR&nbsp;410 concurrency; eastern terminus of SR&nbsp;410
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location=none
|mile=8.2
|exit=7
|road=Hugh Howell Road&nbsp;– [[Tucker, Georgia|Tucker]]
|notes=Former terminus of SR&nbsp;236
}}
{{GAint|exit
|location=none
|mile=9.0
|exit=8
|road=[[Stone Mountain Park]] main entrance
}}
{{GAint|exit
|county=Gwinnett
|cspan=2
|location=Mountain Park
|ctdab=Gwinnett
|lspan=2
|mile=10.1
|mspan=2
|exit=9
|road=Park Place Boulevard / Rockbridge Road
}}
{{GAint|exit
|mile=none
|exit=
|type=concur
|road={{jct|state=GA|US|78|dir1=east|SR|10|dir2=east|name2=Stone Mountain Highway|city1=Snellville|city2=Athens}}
|notes=Eastern end of US&nbsp;78 and SR&nbsp;10 concurrencies; eastern terminus of Stone Mountain Freeway; continuation east
}}
{{Jctbtm|exit|keys=concur,incomplete}}

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|U.S. roads}}
* {{Portal-inline|Georgia (U.S. state)}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

[[Category:Roads in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Freeways in the United States]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 78]]
[[Category:Transportation in DeKalb County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Transportation in Gwinnett County, Georgia]]
[[Category:Stone Mountain]]