Georgia State Route 13 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids State Route 13
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length	49.5 mi (79.7 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 19 / SR 9 in Atlanta
	I-85 in Atlanta US 23 / SR 155 on Brookhaven–Chamblee line I-285 in Doraville US 23 / SR 20 on Sugar Hill–Buford line I-985 / US 23 / SR 365 in Oakwood
North end	SR 369 in Gainesville
Location
Counties:	Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Hall
Highway system
Georgia State Routes Former SR ← SR 12 SR 14 →

State Route 13 (SR 13) is a 49.5-mile-long (79.7 km) state highway in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Georgia, that travels through portions of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Hall counties.

It begins at West Peachtree Street and Spring Street (US 19/SR 9) just to the north of 17th Street in the northern part of Midtown Atlanta. The section south of Buckhead is a full freeway, from its southern terminus to Sidney Marcus Boulevard, built in 1953 as an extension of the Downtown Connector (built in 1952). This was later the original alignment of Interstate 85 (I-85; Northeast Expressway) through northeast Atlanta until 1985, when it was replaced by several lanes in each direction on a new roadway and viaduct immediately adjacent to it during the Freeing the Freeways construction boom.

SR 13 ends at Jesse Jewell Parkway (SR 369) in Gainesville. The name changes from Buford Highway to Atlanta Highway at the northeast city limits of Buford.

SR 13 once continued northeast past Gainesville, roughly along present SR 365, to the South Carolina state line on US 123.

History

Buford Highway originated as a non-descript state roadway connecting Atlanta and points northeast, including the then-railroad towns of Chamblee and Doraville, as well as points farther north. The towns of Doraville, Chamblee, and Norcross had long been home to a blue collar, largely white, lower middle-class population. The highway was characterized by strip mall development, and apartment complexes sprouted up in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, the first ethnic restaurant opened, the Havana Sandwich Shop. In the 1980s, immigrants settled in the area due to affordable housing, available public transportation, and proximity to construction jobs in growing Gwinnett County. The area attracted many Latino workers during the construction boom that preceded the 1996 Olympic Games. Asian business owners were attracted to the stretch of highway by cheap leases and reliable traffic flow.

During the 1996 Olympics, Chamblee embraced the growing international character of Buford Highway, while more conservative Doraville resisted it. As the Southern Foodways Alliance reported:

"'Why would we want to attract more immigrants when we got all we want?' asked Doraville mayor Lamar Lang to the press. 'That’s just not our way of life here,' agreed the city council. 'We’re basically Baptists and Methodists and Presbyterians.'"

Accidents

On July 22, 2010 PBS's Need to Know program portrayed the corridor as an example of a high-pedestrian area in suburban America that fails to meet increased demand for walkability due to changing demographics. The program noted that in the previous ten years, 30 people had died and an additional 250 were injured while trying to cross Buford Highway, a rate three times higher than any other road in Georgia. Despite this, there are no plans to improve pedestrian safety in the unincorporated area of the corridor.

Public transportation

Buford Highway is served by MARTA bus route 39 (Lindbergh Center station to Doraville) as well as privately run "jitneys", or minibuses. Since 1992, the Doraville MARTA metro rail station is also a block away from Buford Highway at the end of the Gold Line. Originally the North and then Northeast Line, MARTA's 2009 change to a color-based system created controversy with the Asian community along the highway when it was to originally have become the Yellow Line.

In popular culture

The city of Chamblee, in which part of the Buford Highway community is located, is sometimes referred to as "Chambodia" due to its high Asian population and the concentration of Asian restaurants along Buford Highway in Chamblee. A chapter of Tom Wolfe's novel A Man in Full is titled "Chambodia".

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
Fulton	Atlanta	0.00	0.00	US 19 south / SR 9 south (Spring Street) / Peachtree Street – Downtown Atlanta	Southern terminus; freeway section begins
		0.42	0.68	US 19 north / SR 9 north (Peachtree Street) – Buckhead	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1.38	2.22	I-85 south (SR 403) to I-75	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-85 exit 86
		2.01	3.23	Armour Drive / Monroe Drive to Piedmont Road south
		2.18	3.51	SR 237 north (Piedmont Road)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		2.87	4.62	I-85 north (SR 403) – Greenville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-85 exit 86
		3.17	5.10	To SR 237 (Piedmont Road) / SR 400 north / Sidney Marcus Boulevard	North end of freeway
DeKalb	Brookhaven	4.35	7.00	SR 42 south (North Druid Hills Road) to I-85	Northern terminus of SR 42
	Brookhaven–Chamblee line	6.69	10.77	US 23 south / SR 155 south (Clairmont Road) to I-85 – Decatur	South end of US 23 concurrency; northern terminus of SR 155
	Doraville			SR 13 Conn. west (Motors Industrial Way)	Eastern terminus of SR 13 Conn.
		10.55	16.98	I-285 (SR 407) to I-85	I-285 exit 32
Gwinnett	Norcross	14.27	22.97	SR 140 (Jimmy Carter Boulevard) to I-85 / SR 141 – Roswell, Tucker
		15.70	25.27	SR 378 east (Beaver Ruin Road) to I-85 – Lilburn	Western terminus of SR 378
	Duluth			To I-85 / Pleasant Hill Road	Interchange
		21.04	33.86	SR 120 (Duluth Highway) / West Lawrenceville Street – Alpharetta, Lawrenceville
				Sugarloaf Parkway
	Suwanee	27.18	43.74	SR 317 south (Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road) to I-85	Northern terminus of SR 317
	Sugar Hill–Buford line	31.29	50.36	US 23 north / SR 20 (Nelson Brogdon Boulevard / Buford Drive) to I-985 – Cumming, Coolray Field	North end US 23 concurrency
Hall	Buford	35.78	57.58	SR 347 (Lanier Islands Parkway)
	Oakwood	44.33	71.34	SR 53 (Mundy Mill Road) to I-985 – Oakwood, Chestnut Mountain, University of North Georgia
		44.58	71.74	SR 332 (Poplar Springs Road) – Talmo
		45.19	72.73	I-985 (US 23 / SR 365 / SR 419)	I-985 exit 17
	Gainesville	49.53	79.71	SR 369 east (Browns Bridge Road)	Northern terminus; no left turn onto SR 369 west from SR 13
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered route

State Route 13 Connector (SR 13 Conn.) is a 1.1-mile-long (1.8 km) connector route that connects US 23/SR 13 (Buford Highway NE) to SR 141 (Peachtree Industrial Boulevard) in Doraville, within DeKalb County. The entire route travels along Motors Industrial Way, a four-lane divided highway with a grassy median. The highway is separated from the inner lanes of Interstate 285 (I-285) by a Jersey barrier.

SR 13 Conn. is not part of the National Highway System, a system of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.

The entire route is in Doraville, DeKalb County.

Mile	Roads intersected	Notes
0.0	0.0	US 23 / SR 13 (Buford Highway NE)	Southern terminus
1.0	1.6	I-285 east (SR 407 / Atlanta Bypass)	No access to I-285 West from SR 13 Conn. and no access from I-285 to SR 13 Conn.
1.1	1.8	SR 141 (Peachtree Industrial Boulevard) – Chamblee, Norcross	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Images for kids

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  The interior of the Buford Highway Farmer's Market

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  Mercado del Pueblo Hispanic supermarket at Northeast Plaza

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  Market in Plaza Fiesta