Atlanta's biggest Fourth of July tradition will shut down a large stretch of Buckhead and Midtown on Saturday morning, with the 57th annual Northside Hospital Peachtree Road Race sending more than 55,000 runners and walkers through the city's busiest east-west corridor. Peachtree Road from Piedmont Road to 10th Street closes at 5 a.m. and is expected to stay shut until about 11:30 a.m.
The road race, known as the world's largest 10K, runs from Lenox Square in Buckhead to Piedmont Park in Midtown and draws participants from more than 30 countries. That scale is why people searching for the Peachtree Road Race on race day are usually looking for one thing first: how to get through Atlanta without getting trapped by the closures.
Several streets near the starting line begin closing around 4:30 a.m., including portions of Lenox Road, Buckhead Loop, Roxboro Road, Wieuca Road, Kingsboro Road and Oak Valley Road. Near the finish, portions of 10th Street, Monroe Drive, 8th Street and Peachtree Place stay closed through the morning, and some finish-area closures began earlier this week to prepare for race operations. A rolling reopening of Peachtree Road is set to begin around 9:30 a.m., but the full route will not reopen before about 11 a.m.
Organizers strongly encourage runners and spectators to skip driving altogether, even though designated ride-share locations are set on the east, west and north sides of the starting area. MARTA trains begin running at 4 a.m. on race day, with the Lenox Station on the Gold Line offering the easiest access to the start and Midtown Station the closest rail stop to the finish near Piedmont Park. Shuttle buses will run between Midtown and Lindbergh stations after the race.
That leaves drivers crossing Buckhead and Midtown with the hardest choice of the morning: wait for the closures to ease, or build in enough time to move around the race instead of through it. For a few hours on Saturday, the course will control the center of Atlanta, and Peachtree Road will be the last place most commuters want to be.
Peachtree Road Race 2026 closes roads across Atlanta on Saturday
