The proposed ‘Stitch’
Drivers on the downtown connector will be a little more protected from rain in the future. More than $210 million in new infrastructure projects was announced on Tuesday, including $157 million for The Stitch in Atlanta. For those unfamiliar, The Stitch is an effort to renew the connectivity and neighborhoods of downtown Atlanta, largely with parks and other public use space bridging the canyon that is the I-75 and I-85 Connector through the middle of downtown.
“This historic $157 million investment in The Stitch by USDOT through the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program will fund the implementation of Phase 1, which includes the creation of up to five acres of new park space above the Downtown Connector, improvements to seven Downtown streets, and enhanced connectivity to the MARTA Civic Center bus and rail station,” said A.J. Robinson, President of Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. “The Stitch has been a dream of the Downtown Atlanta community for 20 years. With the award of this USDOT funding authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, we are now able to make this dream a reality.”
Development and design are already, with construction expected to begin in 2026 and an estimated completion of 2029. This first phase is located right around the northern end of the “Grady curve,” just south of the Varsity. The additional greenspace is expected to reinvigorate downtown Atlanta beyond just commercial activity or tourism. Besides Georgia State University, there is limited permanent housing downtown and the area has a notable lack of activity outside of regular business hours.
“As chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission, these funds will catalyze the Stitch and the Atlanta BeltLine to Flint River Trail, both long-term investments to the region that will unite our communities and move Atlanta forward,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.
The building of the interstates in the 1950’s and 60’s pushed thousands of residents out of their homes and were thoroughly disruptive to neighborhoods in the area. They were also pushed through some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, including the Sweet Auburn neighborhood where Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up. The Stitch is a 60-years-in-the-making attempt to mitigate that impact.
“The Stitch has been a dream of the Downtown Atlanta community for 20 years. With the award of this USDOT funding authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, we are now able to make this dream a reality,” stated Jack Cebe, Stitch Development Manager, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.
In addition to the funding for the Stitch, $50 million was awarded for the Atlanta Beltline to Flint River Trail and nearly $2 million for removal of the I-16 Flyover exit in Savannah (a fixture in the childhood of Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and something like a wall dropped into the middle of a neighborhood).
