Yea, I made the mistake of riding over to MacArthur & 635 for lunch, one day. What a madhouse.
My office is at Royal & Beltline and I live at Jupiter & Garland Rd(hwy 78). I actually have several different routes that I use. Most days I take Royal all the way across town, other days it's Northhaven. But lately, I've enjoyed taking Park Ln. There are a few lights that take a little longer than I like, but overall, it's a rather low-stress route. Of course, with any of these, I end up back on Royal just before I35.