Eliminating a promised $157.6 million grant to fund the first phase of construction of the Stitch would undermine a “generational opportunity” to reconnect parts of Atlanta divided by highways, according to a draft letter from downtown business officials to Georgia’s congressional delegation.
The project, which would cap a portion of the Downtown Connector, build 14 acres of park space atop it and redevelop surrounding city blocks, would lose the grant in the budget proposed by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The proposed budget repeals funding that is awarded but not yet obligated through the Neighborhood Access and Equity program. Legislation from Rep. Nikema Williams, who represents Georgia’s 5th District, created the fund to support projects aimed at reconnecting communities.
In Georgia, the Stitch funding and an additional $64.9 million grant to connect the Atlanta Beltline with the Flint River Trail are at risk. Across the country, at least $2.46 billion for 60 projects face repeal, according to the advocacy group Transportation for America.
The letter is part of lobbying efforts by Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District to protect the funding. The downtown Atlanta groups circulated the letter to members this week asking for signatories in support. Additionally, they are holding briefings this week.
The groups’ president, A.J. Robinson, said in an email to members that the Stitch is at a “critical juncture.” Construction on the first phase is scheduled to begin next year, work that would be delayed if the feds renege on the previously awarded grants.
“This is not an existential moment for the Stitch; the project will happen and be successful,” Robinson wrote. “But let’s be clear: Having come a long way over many years, federal funding falling out of the equation now will delay the project — likely by years.”
The Stitch is estimated to cost $713 million overall. The $157.6 million federal grant for phase one is matched by $30 million in local funding.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has targeted so-called “woke” grants supported by the last administration. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has called for a review of all grants aimed at racial equity, environmental justice and “other partisan objectives” and the proposed House bill targets the same set of grants.
It’s this change in priorities that has put the Stitch funding at risk. The Downtown Connector is one of many interstate projects nationwide that were built through existing Black neighborhoods, what Sen. Raphael Warnock has described as “structural racism in the most literal sense of the word.”
The project’s aim at redressing those past wrongs was, in part, what made it eligible for the Biden-era grants.
The letter from downtown officials focuses instead on the economic benefits of the project.
According to the letter, the Stitch would create 4,500 jobs and $1.4 billion in economic output from 2026 through 2036. Additional commercial development would create an additional 33,000 jobs and $8.6 billion in economic output through 2044.
The full build-out over the next 30 years is projected to generate an additional $61 million per year in city and county property taxes.
Downtown officials stressed that rescinding the federal funding would jeopardize their timeline.
“Cutting or eliminating this funding would undermine the progress already underway and the millions of dollars already spent, stalling efforts to attract private sector investment to our towns and cities,” the letter states.
President Trump has set a July 4 goal for signing his “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” leaving a tight window for the changes proposed by downtown Atlanta officials to be reconsidered. The proposed budget passed by a single vote in the House last month and is expected to face opposition in the Senate.
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