State Route 280 is a state route located in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. State Route 280 is a major urban arterial, with portions of the route seeing an Average Annual Daily Traffic of over 30,000 vehicles, especially around Dobbins Air Reserve Base. It serves as a major commuter route for commuters in southern Cobb County and for those communting to Dobbins Air Reserve Base and the Lockheed-Martin plant in Marietta.

Route description

State Route 280 begins in northwest Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

 at Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...

 Drive (S.R. 139) The route travels north along Hamilton E. Holmes Drive and James Jackson Parkway, meeting Interstate 20

Interstate 20

Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...

 at an interchange, then continues north, across the Chattahoochee River

Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...

 into Cobb County

Cobb County, Georgia

Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...

, where it is known as South Cobb Drive. The route continues north, then northwest, and has an interchange at Interstate 285 in Vinings

Vinings, Georgia

Vinings is a census-designated place and an unincorporated town in Cobb County, Georgia, just across the Chattahoochee River from Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 9,734. It is located between the affluent West Paces Ferry section of Buckhead in northwest Atlanta,...

. The route continues northwest out of Vinings and passes through the western portions of Smyrna

Smyrna, Georgia

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,999 people, 18,372 households, and 9,498 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,949.9 people per square mile . There were 19,633 housing units at an average density of 1,412.6 per square mile...

. In the community of Fair Oaks

Fair Oaks, Georgia

Fair Oaks is a census-designated place in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 8,225 at the 2010 census.Fair Oaks lies just outside the city limits of Marietta, Georgia, and the area uses "Marietta" for its mailing addresses. Except for actual residents of Fair Oaks, very few...

, the route becomes cosigned

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with S.R. 5. After arcing back to the north, then to the east as Delk Road, S.R. 5 departs, and S.R. 280 continues east, past Lockheed-Martin and through Dobbins Air Reserve Base

Dobbins Air Reserve Base

Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States air reserve base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about northwest of Atlanta. It was named in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins, a World War II C-47 pilot who died near Sicily...

. After an interchange with U.S. 41, the route meets its northern terminus at I-75

Interstate 75

Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...

, exit 261 (Delk Road), in Marietta

Marietta, Georgia

Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...

.

In northwest Atlanta, S.R. 280 was known as Hightower Road, but was renamed to honor Hamilton E. Holmes.

The route has at least four lanes for its entire length, and has 6 lanes in Marietta and between U.S. 41 and I-75.