A federal grant will pay for the first phase of construction of a long-sought park over the Downtown Connector in Atlanta.
The U.S. Department of Transportation grant would provide $157.6 million for the construction of The Stitch — a planned 14-acre greenspace over the Downtown Connector. It’s one of several projects that seek to reconnect Atlanta neighborhoods cut off by construction of interstate highways.
Another federal grant announced Tuesday would provide $50 million to connect the Atlanta Beltline’s Southside Trail to the Flint River Trail. The grants are the latest proceeds from the bipartisan infrastructure law Congress approved in 2021.
The Stitch would cost an estimated $713 million. The first phase of construction is expected to be completed in 2029.
It would cover three-quarters of a mile of the connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue. Atlanta plans to create a 14-acre park, affordable housing and other new development over the highway.
The idea is to reconnect neighborhoods decimated when the connector was built in the 1950s and ‘60s. The project also seeks to support affordable housing and transit-oriented development.
The first phase of construction would include 5 acres of new park space, improvements to seven downtown streets and improved access to MARTA’s Civic Center station.
“The Stitch will reclaim a massive part of our city from infrastructure that divided the Black neighborhoods of Buttermilk Bottoms, Bedford Pines and Sweet Auburn,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, said in announcing the grant.
“The Stitch has been a dream of the downtown Atlanta community for 20 years,” added A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress and the Downtown Improvement District. With the grant, “we are now able to make this dream a reality,” he said.
The other grant would be used to build a multiuse trail connecting the Beltline to the Flint River Trail, improving access to schools, hospitals, job centers and MARTA rail. It would build two segments — 1.6 miles in East Point and 1 mile in Clayton County. Ultimately, the 31.5-mile Flint River Trail will connect the Beltline to Lovejoy.
Mayor Andre Dickens called the grants announcement “monumental.”
“These funds will catalyze The Stitch and the Atlanta Beltline to Flint River Trail, both long-term investments that will unite our communities and move Atlanta forward,” Dickens said.
It’s unclear when the projects will begin construction.
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