Transport and commuting · The I-675 side of Atlanta
Getting around Ellenwood
Getting around Ellenwood is an interstate story with local roads on both ends. I-675 runs straight through the community, Georgia 42 and US 23 cross it on the Macon Highway frontage, and the junction where I-675 meets I-285 sits minutes away. Almost every Ellenwood trip starts on one of those.
Transit is real but simple: MARTA buses serve the community, and the nearest rail is at College Park and the airport. Every road, route, and time below is verified; where something does not exist, this page says so plainly.
The roads
The highways an unincorporated community runs on
I-675
The freeway that runs through Ellenwood and functions as the community's main street. North it connects to I-285 at the perimeter; south it runs toward I-75 at the Stockbridge and McDonough side. It is the reason the airport and the I-285 job ring are both short drives.
Georgia 42, Macon Highway
The local frontage road through the heart of the community, running southwest toward Rex and northeast toward Panola Road and the Rockdale side. The shops, strip centers, and barbecue smokehouses line this road.
US 23, Moreland Avenue and Macon Highway
Passes through the area on the Moreland Avenue and Macon Highway routing, crossing Anvil Block Road by the former Fort Gillem property. It is the older arterial built before the freeways, still carrying the local traffic.
Anvil Block, Bouldercrest, Panola, and Rex roads
The everyday arterials: Anvil Block Road carries the Walmart and dining strip and leads to I-285, Bouldercrest Road runs the western side toward I-20, and Panola and Rex Roads reach the eastern parks and the Panola Mountain side.
The commutes
What the drives to the usual destinations actually take
Times below are published figures for normal, uncongested traffic on the roads Ellenwood actually uses. The weekday peaks change them considerably, and the airport run is the one everyone asks about first.
Hartsfield-Jackson airport
About 15 minutes
One of the closest ZIPs in the metro to the airport, via I-675 south to I-285 or the local route through Forest Park. At peak, add time on the airport's own roadways.
Downtown Atlanta
About 25 to 35 minutes
Roughly 15 to 20 miles via I-675 to I-285 and the downtown connectors. In normal traffic that is a half hour; at peak it is the metro's usual story.
Stockbridge and McDonough
About 15 to 20 minutes
I-675 south to I-75 carries the Henry County run, the practical route for the Stockbridge shopping and the McDonough square.
Transit
The honest transit picture: buses in, rail nearby
MARTA serves Ellenwood with bus service. Route 195, the Ellenwood Town Center route, runs between College Park Station and Anvil Block Road, and Route 32 also stops along Anvil Block Road and the Bouldercrest side. MARTA has operated Clayton County's bus service since 2020, which is why the routes reach this far south of the old DeKalb core.
No MARTA rail line reaches Ellenwood itself. The nearest stations are College Park Station on the Gold Line, the terminus of the Route 195 bus, and Airport Station at Hartsfield-Jackson, both roughly 15 to 20 minutes by car or about one bus ride with the transfer. Xpress's regional commuter network was cut back in June 2025 and no current Xpress route serves Ellenwood directly, so the honest rail trip is bus to College Park or drive to the airport, then train.
For most Ellenwood households the honest math is simple: the airport is fifteen minutes away and downtown is a half hour, so the car usually wins on time, and the bus is the option that exists when it does not.
Schedules and fares change with the season. Confirm the current MARTA timetable before your first ride.
The takeaway
Driving or bus, the honest answer for Ellenwood
- Ellenwood is a car community, and the honest first fact is that the freeway at the door does most of the work.
- The airport run is the community's superpower, about 15 minutes in normal traffic.
- I-675 is the spine, Georgia 42 and Anvil Block Road are the everyday streets, and I-285 is minutes north.
- MARTA bus service exists and works for the rail connection, but it is not a walk-up option for most households.
- The GA 42 and Anvil Block frontage backs up in the school and evening windows; time the airport run around them.
Weighing a move around Ellenwood? Book a call with Rob Dietrich, the REALTOR® behind this guide.
An editorial guide, not a listings site. Updated September 22, 2026. Real-estate guidance on this page is provided by Rob Dietrich, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC.