Georgia State Route 5

State Route 5 (SR 5) is a 155.325-mile-long (249.971 km) state highway that travels south-to-north through portions of Carroll, Douglas, Cobb, Cherokee, Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin counties in the western and northern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway travels from its southern terminus at SR 48 at the Alabama state line, north-northwest of Ephesus, to its northern terminus at SR 60 and SR 68 at the Tennessee state line on the McCaysville–Copperhill line, bisecting the northwestern portion of the state.

SR 5 starts at the Alabama state line just east of Graham and north-northwest of Ephesus, in Carroll County, where the highway continues west into Randolph County, Alabama as SR 48. In Carroll County, the highway initially travels northeast, but soon turns to the east, and bisects the southern portion of rural Carroll County. SR 5 crosses U.S. Route 27/SR 1 (US 27/SR 1) in Roopville, and continues east until it nears the Chattahoochee River, where it turns northeast to parallel the river, and travels through Whitesburg. SR 5 continues northeast, then cuts north into Douglas County, where it is locally known as Bill Arp Road, crosses Interstate 20 (I-20) in Douglasville.

Continuing northeast, and having picked up a concurrency with US 78/SR 8, the highway heads through Lithia Springs, crosses US 278/SR 6, and enters Cobb County and Austell. In Austell, SR 5 splits from US 78/SR 8 and heads slightly northeast through the western parts of Smyrna to just west of Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Traveling concurrently with SR 280, the highways wind to the north around Dobbins as South Cobb Drive, and SR 5 splits off and travels to the north by itself into Marietta as Atlanta Road. The highway then makes a sharp turn to the west and travels concurrently with SR 120 Loop, and both turn north again to just avoid the Marietta Square to its west.

Curving to the northeast past the square, SR 5 leaves its concurrency with SR 120 Loop behind and heads north yet again, first as Cherokee Street, then Church Street, and curves to the northeast as it crosses US 41/SR 3. Soon thereafter, SR 5 merges with I-75 for a very short distance, and then splits off I-75 north of Marietta, together with its concurrency with I-575, and heads north and northeast into Cherokee County in the direction of Woodstock. From Marietta to Blue Ridge, the route parallels the Marietta and North Georgia Rail Line.

SR 5 remains concurrent with I-575 for that route's entire length, as the two highways bisect Cherokee County, and bypass Holly Springs, Canton (crossing the Etowah River north of Canton), and Ball Ground. North of Ball Ground, near Nelson, I-575, as well as the freeway portion of the highway, terminates, and SR 5, now concurrent with SR 515, enters Pickens County. The highways curve northwest around Jasper, then turn back to the north near Talking Rock on their way into Gilmer County and Ellijay. In East Ellijay, SR 5 picks up a concurrency with US 76/SR 2, and heads northeast into the Chattahoochee National Forest in the direction of Blue Ridge in Fannin County. In Blue Ridge, US 76/SR 2/SR 515 head off to the east, while SR 5 heads northwest to McCaysville and its northern terminus at the Tennessee state line, where the route intersects the northern terminus of SR 60 (Toccoa Avenue) and continues into Tennessee as SR 68 (Ocoee Street).

The following portions of SR 5 are part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense:

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) average annual daily traffic (AADT) numbers for the year 2011 show a variety of average daily traffic load numbers as the route travels across western and northern Georgia. At the route's western portion in rural Carroll County, daily vehicle load averages hover around 3,000, with a route low seen west of US 27 at just over 1,000 vehicles per day. Averages quickly rise from about 7,500 vehicles north of SR 166 to reach numbers near 22,000 around I-20, then level off between 10,000 and 15,000 between Douglasville and Austell. Vehicle loads climb again north of Austell, reaching numbers between 27,000 and 38,000 between Austell and Marietta.

Once SR 5 becomes concurrent with I-575, averages increase drastically, with a route high of 93,000 vehicles seen south of Woodstock, close to I-75. Numbers generally decrease as the route travels further north, going from the mark seen in Woodstock down to 59,000 in Holly Springs, around 55,000 in Canton, and further down to 26,000 near Ball Ground. Once the freeway portion of the route ends in Pickens County, averages fall further from around 24,000 to around 12,000, but stabilize in that vicinity from Talking Rock in Pickens County all the way through Ellijay in Gilmer County to Blue Ridge in Fannin County. As SR 5 approaches its northern terminus, vehicle load decreases once more to a low of 7,200, and hovers around 9,000 as the Tennessee state line is reached.