Interstate 285 - Future

Future

Since the 1970s, the Georgia Department of Transportation has planned an outer loop, which would be a roughly 230 mile (370 km) circumferential loop around metropolitan Atlanta. Under Governor Sonny Perdue, the plans were dropped from the Regional Transportation Plan, in favor of the expansion of the rural state road network outside of Atlanta. The state still retains ownership of most of the land that would be needed to complete at least the northern section of the Outer Loop, known as the Northern Arc. As of 2007, ideas have been considered to build that highway even further north, through areas that are still rural.

The I-285 and Georgia 400 interchange is slated to be reconfigured with collector/distributor roads along Georgia 400 and a complete full stack interchange that will make it the largest freeway interchange east of Los Angeles. The new interchange is expected to be able to handle around 300,000 cars per day. Feasibility studies have been completed, and it is in Atlanta's 2025 Regional Transportation Plan.

On July 31, 2012, metro-area voters rejected the T-SPLOST comprehensive transportation plan that was to be funded by an additional one-percent sales tax over a ten-year period. Among the projects included in the plan was a new exit on I-285 at Greenbriar Parkway on the southwest side of Atlanta (between present exits 2 & 5), as well as major reconstruction of interchanges at exits 27 (GA 400/US 19), 10 (I-20 west of Atlanta) and 33 (I-285 northeast of Atlanta).

Georgia DOT voted in September 2012 to raise the speed limit from 55 miles per hour (90 km/h) to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) on the entire freeway, and by 2013 install electronic signs for variable speed limits north of I-20, to lower the speed limit when traffic or weather conditions warrant. This is intended to keep traffic moving at a reduced but steady speed, rather than suddenly-braking drivers causing traffic to "clot" simply because other drivers are also braking (which causes unnecessary stop-and-go traffic).