Move over, Spaghetti Junction. Here is the “Perimeter Pretzel”

After seven years of construction and “profound delays” for motorists, the $800 million remake of Interstate 285’s interchange with Georgia Highway 400 is almost completely finished — and in true Hotlanta fashion, he’s trying to keep a dubious nickname alive.

You know Spaghetti Junction. The Grady curve. The Cobb cloverleaf. The Downtown Connector. And maybe just the Brookwood Split.

Now it’s time to meet, uh… the “Perimeter Pretzel.”

That’s the official nickname that a campaign promoting Perimeter Community Improvement Districts applied to the I-285/400 interchange, which was previously considered one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in Georgia. (Official slogan at the moment: “Want smoother travel? Knots for much longer.”)

The Top End Perimeter project near the King and Queen office skyscrapers includes 12 miles of detours of new connector routes, less hectic exits, rebuilt bridges and a new multi-use trail that will connect to Buckhead’s PATH400 trail. Aside from the repaving work and to-do list items, everything is mostly complete, according to PCID. The agency points out that GoTo Foods, owner of pretzel maker Auntie Anne’s, is actually headquartered at Perimeter Institute, making the pretzel moniker even more appropriate.

The nickname might also be appropriate because it’s a mouthful, the trade took a lot of money to make, and let’s be honest, it’s cheesy AF.

The project is part of the “Transform 285/400» whose construction began in 2017 and was supposed to be completed in summer 2020, until the scope was expanded to include new bridges over nearby connecting roads and other components. Now the finished interchange is expected to be only slightly smaller than Spaghetti Junction. Its aim is to decongest a tangle of roads used by more than 400,000 drivers per day, although it was originally designed to accommodate only 100,000.

The brand campaign also includes a “hyper-real look” at how the Pretzel works, which is sure to leave a salty taste in the mouths of transit enthusiasts.

Since these are beefy times, the video begins with Pretzel supporters denouncing problematic traffic “near Spaghetti Junction” and extolling the virtues of “adding all these connecting lanes” to Sandy Springs.

From one narrator to another: “I actually passed by the Pretzel on my commute this morning. The new lanes are a huge improvement,” she says happily. “No more left turns. No more tricky mergers. No more bottlenecks. I have to say it’s working… It’s exciting to hear that there’s so much happening in the community.

The male counterpart responds, “It really feels like this place is experiencing the exciting new chapter it deserves.” »

H/T to Atlanta First Draft for sharing Pretzel’s lightening video in a recent newsletter. The same publication conducted a reader poll in 2019 with other suggestions — “GDOT Knot,” “Traffic Twister” and “Rush-Hour Ramen” — which saw the Perimeter Pretzel moniker come out on top.

Do you have any other suggestions for what Metro Atlanta residents might call this curvy thing?

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