“Terrifying.”

That’s the word recent arrival Ivy Mills uses to describe the experience of finding her daily exit off the Downtown Connector.

So just imagine what it’s like for the poor tourist, in search of the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District.

Entrances and exits jammed cheek by jowl. Commuters weaving abruptly from lane to lane. Signs streaming by for a welter of landmarks: the Georgia Dome; the Georgia World Aquarium; the Carter Center; Grady Hospital.

And — wait! what was that that just flashed by? — the sign for the Martin Luther King Historic District, hidden behind an overpass until the rattled driver is almost past it.

“Tourists complain all the time that they can’t find us off I-75/85,” said Judy Forte, the National Park Service superintendent of the site.

Forte has an idea about how to fix the problem, and the state transportation folks are considering it. Find the full story only on MyAjc.com.

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Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com