[3] The area around the connector and associated interchanges are considered one of the ten-most congested stretches of interstate in the U.S.[4] Due to this fact, many motorists often compare Atlanta to Los Angeles, which is also known for its notoriously-congested freeway system.

Traffic flow data is gathered through a video detection system, using pole-mounted black-and-white cameras spaced every 1⁄3 mile (0.54 km) on both sides of the roadway.

All video and data is fed into the GDOT's Transportation Management Center (TMC), via fiber-optic cable located under the shoulders of the roadway.

As with every other freeway inside the Perimeter, the Downtown Connector is lined with streetlights mounted in the center median, with high-mast lighting at major interchanges.

On December 14, 1944, the Georgia State Highway Department, the predecessor agency to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), collaborated with the city of Atlanta, Fulton County, and the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), the predecessor to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to work on a plan to improve traffic and connectivity within the Atlanta area.

The report, which was released on January 10, 1946, recommended a total of six radiating expressways be constructed in the city, with the intent of being integrated into what later became the Interstate Highway System, which at the time was expected to eventually be authorized by Congress.

[7] Work on a southern stretch of the Connector, a 1.4-mile (2.3 km) section between University Avenue and Richardson Street, began in March 1955, and was dedicated and opened on July 25, 1957.

[10][11] A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Downtown Connector, attended by Governor Carl Sanders, FHWA administrator Rex Marion Whitton, and Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr. was held inside the Georgia State Capitol on October 15, 1964.

It also destroyed street grids east and south of downtown, dividing Sweet Auburn in two and the interchange with I-20 leveling the northern part of the Washington-Rawson district.

The improvement campaign also included elimination of sharp curves and grades, left-hand exits, excessive interchanges, and short acceleration/deceleration lanes.

Between 2000 and 2004, the six-lane wide 17th Street Bridge was constructed over the Brookwood Interchange, connecting Midtown Atlanta with the then-new Atlantic Station development.

In early January 2010, a section of the highway between 14th and 17th streets developed an unusual problem dubbed "phantom ice" during a prolonged cold wave that kept temperatures below freezing for several days in the Atlanta region.

GDOT engineers believe that heavy rain in previous months raised the water table and caused it to seep upward through joints between lanes, where it subsequently froze.

Commuter traffic was stopped briefly on at least two days in order to treat it with deicing materials and inspect the freeway to determine the cause.