Metro Atlanta's 10 most consistently awful traffic hotspots

The Atlanta skyline loomed overhead as northbound traffic crawls along the connecter past Arthur B. Langford Parkway. Southside commuters riding into Atlanta experienced unusual long delays on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016 starting with a crash at 5:59 a.m. that took up 3-center northbound lanes that caused heavy delays on I-75 at I-285 in Clayton County. The crash kept cars at a crawl from Jonesboro Rd./Hwy 54 according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Following that crash just before 7 a.m. a rollover crash on the I-75 / I-85 connector between Fair Drive and University Avenue further exacerbated traffic flow. Officials offered no additional details concerning the crashes. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM

The Atlanta skyline loomed overhead as northbound traffic crawls along the connecter past Arthur B. Langford Parkway. Southside commuters riding into Atlanta experienced unusual long delays on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016 starting with a crash at 5:59 a.m. that took up 3-center northbound lanes that caused heavy delays on I-75 at I-285 in Clayton County. The crash kept cars at a crawl from Jonesboro Rd./Hwy 54 according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Following that crash just before 7 a.m. a rollover crash on the I-75 / I-85 connector between Fair Drive and University Avenue further exacerbated traffic flow. Officials offered no additional details concerning the crashes. JOHN SPINK /JSPINK@AJC.COM

Listen -- we get it. You're tired of hearing about how bad Atlanta traffic is. You know. You live it. Every day. For hours. And hours. And hours.

But guess what? We've got some fancy new data, courtesy of the Atlanta Regional Commission, and it shows the top 10 places around town where traffic was routinely bad last month. Naturally, we want to share it.

To compile this data, the ARC charted the average duration, average length and frequency of bottlenecks -- defined in a pretty graphic below -- at key metro Atlanta locations (note that "duration" refers to how long a bottleneck was classified a bottleneck -- not how long it took drivers to pass through).  It then multiplied all those numbers together to come up with an "impact factor."

Without further ado, here's the countdown. Read 'em and weep.

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10. I-85/75 North at I-20/Exit 247, Atlanta: Passing Turner Field and headed into the city (or trying to go east or west)? Good luck.

Average duration: 3 hours, 14 minues

Average length: 2.6 miles

Occurrences: 95

ajc.com

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9. Ga. 400 North at I-285, North Fulton: This is pretty much always a bad idea. But you already knew that.

Average duration: 2 hours, 19 minutes

Average length: 6.6 miles

Occurrences: 54

8. I-285 East at I-85/Exit 33, DeKalb County: Leaving DeKalb and trying to get somewhere via Spaghetti Junction, you say? Ha!

Average duration: 2 hours, 46 minutes

Average length: 5.6 miles

Occurrences: 63

ajc.com

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»MORE: Photos of Spaghetti Junction through the years

7. I-85 South at I-75/I-85/Exit 85, Atlanta: Approaching the Downtown Connector from the north? You really should know better.

Average duration: 2 hours, 51 minutes

Average length: 3.6 miles

Occurrences: 102

6. I-285 South at I-20/Exit 10, Fulton County: The Westside Perimeter is a big bucket of nope.

Average duration: 2 hours, 19 minutes

Average length: 6.3 miles

Occurrences: 74

5. I-85 North at Ga. 378/Exit 102, Gwinnett County: Norcross' Beaver Ruin Road has a funny name. The traffic's not so funny.

Average duration: 2 hours, 50 minutes

Average length: 10.1 miles

Occurrences: 40

ajc.com

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»MORE: Where did Beaver Ruin Road get its name?

4. I-85/I-75 South at I-20/Exit 247, Atlanta: The Downtown Connector and I-20. Again.

Average duration: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Average length: 3.2 miles

Occurrences: 100

3. I-285 West at I-75/Exit 20, Cobb County: Hey, good thing they're not building anything nearby that will create even more congestion!

Average duration: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Average length: 5.8 miles

Occurrences: 100

ajc.com

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2. I-85/I-75 North at I-85/I-75 split, Atlanta: Don't come into to the city this way. And definitely don't leave it.

Average duration: 4 hours, 5 minutes

Average length: 3.7 miles

Occurrences: 132

1. I-75 North at Chastain Road/Exit 271, Cobb County: Kind of surprising it's No. 1 ... right? Hello? Anyone? Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of your rising blood pressure.

Average duration: 2 hours, 36 minutes

Average length: 8.5 miles

Occurrences: 113

ajc.com

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»MORE: Visit the AJC's commuting blog for more metro Atlanta traffic news.