Georgia State Route 5


State Route 5 is a state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Carroll, Douglas, Cobb, Cherokee, Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin counties in the western and northern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway travels from its southern terminus at SR 48 at the Alabama state line, north-northwest of Ephesus, to its northern terminus at SR 60 and SR 68 at the Tennessee state line on the McCaysville–Copperhill line, bisecting the northwestern portion of the state.

Route description

SR 5 starts at the Alabama state line just east of Graham and north-northwest of Ephesus, in Carroll County, where the highway continues west into Randolph County, Alabama as SR 48. In Carroll County, the highway initially travels northeast, but soon turns to the east, and bisects the southern portion of rural Carroll County. SR 5 crosses U.S. Route 27/SR 1 in Roopville, and continues east until it nears the Chattahoochee River, where it turns northeast to parallel the river, and travels through Whitesburg. SR 5 continues northeast, then cuts north into Douglas County, where it is locally known as Bill Arp Road, crosses Interstate 20 in Douglasville.
Continuing northeast, and having picked up a concurrency with US 78/SR 8, the highway heads through Lithia Springs, crosses US 278/SR 6, and enters Cobb County and Austell. In Austell, SR 5 splits from US 78/SR 8 and heads slightly northeast through the western parts of Smyrna to just west of Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Traveling concurrently with SR 280, the highways wind to the north around Dobbins as South Cobb Drive, and SR 5 splits off and travels to the north by itself into Marietta as Atlanta Road. The highway then makes a sharp turn to the west and travels concurrently with SR 120 Loop, and both turn north again to just avoid the Marietta Square to its west.
Curving to the northeast past the square, SR 5 leaves its concurrency with SR 120 Loop behind and heads north yet again, first as Cherokee Street, then Church Street, and curves to the northeast as it crosses US 41/SR 3. Soon thereafter, SR 5 merges with I-75 for a very short distance, and then splits off I-75 north of Marietta, together with its concurrency with I-575, and heads north and northeast into Cherokee County in the direction of Woodstock. From Marietta to Blue Ridge, the route parallels the Marietta and North Georgia Rail Line.
SR 5 remains concurrent with I-575 for that route's entire length, as the two highways bisect Cherokee County, and bypass Holly Springs, Canton, and Ball Ground. North of Ball Ground, near Nelson, I-575, as well as the freeway portion of the highway, terminates, and SR 5, now concurrent with SR 515, enters Pickens County. The highways curve northwest around Jasper, then turn back to the north near Talking Rock on their way into Gilmer County and Ellijay. In East Ellijay, SR 5 picks up a concurrency with US 76/SR 2, and heads northeast into the Chattahoochee National Forest in the direction of Blue Ridge in Fannin County. In Blue Ridge, US 76/SR 2/SR 515 head off to the east, while SR 5 heads northwest to McCaysville and its northern terminus at the Tennessee state line, where the route intersects the northern terminus of SR 60 and continues into Tennessee as SR 68.

National Highway System

The following portions of SR 5 are part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense:
  • The entire concurrency with SR 92 in Douglasville
  • The entire concurrency with US 41/SR 3 in Marietta
  • From the southern end of the I-75 concurrency, in Marietta, to the Tennessee state line

    Traffic

The Georgia Department of Transportation average annual daily traffic numbers for the year 2011 show a variety of average daily traffic load numbers as the route travels across western and northern Georgia. At the route's western portion in rural Carroll County, daily vehicle load averages hover around 3,000, with a route low seen west of US 27 at just over 1,000 vehicles per day. Averages quickly rise from about 7,500 vehicles north of SR 166 to reach numbers near 22,000 around I-20, then level off between 10,000 and 15,000 between Douglasville and Austell. Vehicle loads climb again north of Austell, reaching numbers between 27,000 and 38,000 between Austell and Marietta.
Once SR 5 becomes concurrent with I-575, averages increase drastically, with a route high of 93,000 vehicles seen south of Woodstock, close to I-75. Numbers generally decrease as the route travels further north, going from the mark seen in Woodstock down to 59,000 in Holly Springs, around 55,000 in Canton, and further down to 26,000 near Ball Ground. Once the freeway portion of the route ends in Pickens County, averages fall further from around 24,000 to around 12,000, but stabilize in that vicinity from Talking Rock in Pickens County all the way through Ellijay in Gilmer County to Blue Ridge in Fannin County. As SR 5 approaches its northern terminus, vehicle load decreases once more to a low of 7,200, and hovers around 9,000 as the Tennessee state line is reached.

"Old Highway 5"

With the construction of I-575 and other projects between Cobb and Gilmer counties, SR 5 saw significant routing changes in the 1980s and 1990. All of the former routing of SR 5, parallel to I-575, and the new routing in Pickens and Gilmer counties, still exists today, and is utilized by local traffic.
From the northbound exit 267A on I-75, the old routing of SR 5 follows what is today locally known as Canton Road Connector, which merges into Canton Road. This routing parallels I-575 very closely to its east as the old SR 5 routing heads north through the heart of Woodstock. The local road name changes to Main Street through Woodstock, and to Holly Springs Parkway on its way to Holly Springs, where it crosses under I-575 to its west at exit 14. As the old route travels through Canton, it becomes briefly concurrent with SR 140, then crosses under I-575 once more to its east again, and heads northeast as Ball Ground Highway. Rarely more than separate the old routing and I-575/SR 5/SR 515, as the old SR 5 passes through the heart of Ball Ground, and it briefly becomes concurrent with SR 372.
"Old Highway 5" continues north as Canton Road/Canton Highway, now somewhat further removed from the current SR 5, and travels through Nelson, then becomes concurrent with SR 53 Bus. into Jasper. North of Jasper, the former routing of SR 5 has become a minor roadway and is known as Talking Rock Road to Talking Rock, where it briefly becomes concurrent with SR 136, then heads north as Ellijay Road, having crossed to the west of the current SR 5 together with SR 136. Paralleling SR 5 very closely once more, the former routing travels through downtown Ellijay, crosses the Ellijay River, and merges into the current US 76/SR 5/SR 515 north of East Ellijay.

History

1920s

SR 5 was established at least as early as 1919 from SR 3 in Marietta to the Tennessee state line north-northwest of Blue Ridge. SR 8 was established at this time on the path of SR 5 from Douglasville to Austell. By the end of 1926, US 78 was designated on SR 8 between Douglasville and Austell. The Pickens County portion of the Canton–Jasper segment of SR 5 had a "completed hard surface". Two segments had a "completed semi hard surface": the Cherokee County portion of the Canton–Jasper segment and the southern half of the segment from Blue Ridge to the Tennessee state line. Two segments had a "sand clay or top soil": the Douglasville–Austell segment of US 78/SR 8 and the Cherokee County portion of the Marietta–Canton segment of SR 5. Two segments were under construction: the Jasper–Ellijay segment and the northern half of the Blue Ridge–Tennessee segment. By the end of 1929, two segments had a completed hard surface: a small portion just north of the Cobb–Cherokee county line and from a point northeast of Canton to just north of the Pickens–Gilmer county line. Two segments had a completed semi hard surface: nearly the entire Gilmer County portion of the Jasper–Ellijay segment and the northern half of the Blue Ridge–Tennessee segment. The Ellijay–Blue Ridge segment was under construction.

1930s

By the middle of 1930, the southern part of the Gilmer County portion of the Jasper–Ellijay segment had a completed hard surface. By the end of the year, the segment from Blue Ridge to the Tennessee state line also was completed. The entire Cobb County portion of the Marietta–Canton segment was under construction. By the end of 1931, the Douglasville–Austell segment of US 78/SR 8 had a completed hard surface. Three segments of SR 5 also were completed: from Marietta to the halfway point between the Cobb–Cherokee county line and Canton, from northeast of Canton to Ellijay, and from northeast of Ellijay to Blue Ridge. The southern two-thirds of the Ellijay–Blue Ridge segment had a sand clay or top soil surface. Between April and August 1932, a portion south of Canton had a sand clay or top soil surface. A portion northeast of Canton was under construction. In August, the portion south of Canton was under construction. In October, a small portion at the northern terminus was under construction. By May 1933, the entire length of SR 5 from Marietta to Ellijay had a completed hard surface. In May, the northern terminus had a completed semi hard surface. In July, the entire Blue Ridge–Tennessee state line had a completed hard surface. In the third quarter of 1935, the Ellijay–Blue Ridge segment was also completed. By the end of the year, a portion northeast of Ellijay was under construction. In the first quarter of 1937, SR 5 was extended southwest from Marietta to SR 6 in Powder Springs. The next year, a portion of the extension southwest of Marietta had completed grading, but was not surfaced. By the middle of 1939, the central portion of this extension was under construction. In the third quarter of the year, this portion had completed grading, but was not surfaced.