A.M. ATL: Is ‘The Stitch’ actually happening?
Morning, y’all! Temperatures are in the 40s this morning but we should climb into the mid-70s later on.
- Joe Biden and Donald Trump won their respective presidential primaries in Georgia on Tuesday, helping officially clinch their parties’ nominations. GOP challenger Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race last week, drew significant support in parts of metro Atlanta. Overall, voter turnout was low.
Today’s newsletter also includes the latest on an overturned police shooting verdict, the most expensive home ever sold in Atlanta and a guide to spring festivals all around the metro. Plus: UGA quarterback Carson Beck talks about his Lamborghini.
But first, let’s discuss what a new influx of cash means for one massive, interstate-topping undertaking.
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THE STITCH SITCH
“The Stitch” is an audacious idea dreamed up several years back: Turn a chunk of the Downtown Connector into a tunnel, essentially, then build a public park and other cool stuff on top.
Kinda wild, right? But it’s got a more righteous rationale, too — and a new federal grant has it closer to reality than ever before.
The latest: Three Democratic members of Georgia’s congressional delegation (Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, plus Rep. Nikema Williams) announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation allocated $157.6 million toward building the Stitch’s first phase.
- That initial step includes a four-acre interstate-topping park, plus improvements to several surrounding streets and better access to MARTA’s Civic Center station.
The money comes from the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The bigger picture: The new funding marks the largest contribution to the project by a long shot. But Phase I is, of course, only a fraction of what’s planned.
- Overall, the city and officials from organizations like Central Atlanta Progress envision capping the interstate for three-quarters of a mile, from Ted Turner Drive to Piedmont Avenue. A 14-acre park, affordable housing and other developments would follow.
The current price estimate for everything, according to Central Atlanta Progress? At least $713 million. Design and construction could take around a decade. It’s unclear when those might begin.
The context: The Stitch is an ambitious and expensive project. History is helping drive its creation, too.
- The Stitch name itself references an effort aimed more directly connecting parts of the downtown and Midtown areas, which were separated when the I-85/I-75 connector was built in the 1950s and ‘60s. The interstates were deliberately built to isolate predominantly Black neighborhoods from white ones.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in 2021 his agency would use infrastructure funding to “remedy racial inequities in U.S. highway design.”
“The Stitch will reclaim a massive part of our city from infrastructure that divided the Black neighborhoods of Buttermilk Bottom, Bedford Pines and Sweet Auburn,” Williams said in a news release.
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Keep scrolling for more news.
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CONVICTION OVERTURNED
Georgia’s Court of Appeals reversed the aggravated assault conviction of former DeKalb County police officer Robert Olsen, who shot and killed unarmed, mentally ill war veteran Anthony Hill in 2015. District Attorney Sherry Boston vowed to appeal the ruling to the state’s Supreme Court.
» Season 7 of the AJC’s “Breakdown” podcast follows the Olsen case
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MORE TOP STORIES
- Cobb County leaders gathered Tuesday night to discuss safety improvements at Six Flags Over Georgia, where fighting and gunfire erupted earlier this month.
- A 17,000-square-foot Buckhead mansion recently sold for $19.8 million — believed to be the highest purchase price ever recorded in Atlanta.
- Sixteen-year-old Guillermo Aguas-Bahena became the fifth student at DeKalb County’s Lakeside High to die in a car crash this school year.
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BELTLINE BALLYHOO
The debate over transit on the Atlanta Beltline rages on. At a recent forum to discuss light rail on the popular trail, folks on both sides of the issue said there’s more research to be done.
“I have always been supportive of some transit on the Beltline,” Mayor Andre Dickens said, “but I’m also sober and aware enough to know that ... now 20 years later, we’ve got to look at how real is it?”
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NATION AND WORLD
The U.S. House expects to vote today on legislation banning TikTok unless the popular app’s Chinese owners sell it.
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An ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny accused “Putin’s henchmen” of attacking him in Lithuania.
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SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS
Georgia started spring football practice Tuesday. More importantly, quarterback Carson Beck answered questions about landing a Lamborghini in the offseason: “It’s just a car at the end of the day, it’s not too big of a deal, I just drive it around.” More photos here.
- Braves: Third baseman Austin Riley has the hitting part down. Now he really wants to win a Gold Glove.
- College hoops: Georgia Tech men’s basketball ended their season with am 84-80 loss to Notre Dame at the ACC Tournament. The UGA men have a chance to redeem their lackluster season when they start SEC Tournament play tonight against Missouri.
- Falcons: New quarterback Kirk Cousins is expected to hold his introductory Atlanta news conference this evening. And he’ll have a new weapon to discuss: speedy wide receiver Darnell Mooney, most recently of the Chicago Bears.
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SPRING FLINGS
Whip those calendars out, baby. It’s spring festival season and, like that Aerosmith song from the asteroid movie, you don’t wanna miss a thing.
Check out our roundup of 21 can’t-miss events happening now through May, from SweetWater 420 Fest to celebrations honoring the arts, chicken wings, dogwood trees and historic homes.
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Standout moments from hearing on Biden classified documents probe
» 5 things to know about founding dean of UGA’s medical school
» Beyoncé's new album will be called ‘Act II: Cowboy Carter’
» 3rd inmate dies this year in Henry County jail
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ON THIS DATE
March 13, 1913
A group of Atlanta preachers launched a formal protest against the request of 11 “moving picture theaters” to remain open on Sundays. But it appeared to be a lost cause.
The chairman of the city’s police board sided with the theaters, urging “the city [to] become more cosmopolitan and make room for such Sunday recreations as motion pictures and public bathing.”
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
AJC photographer Miguel Martinez captured voter Chandra Brown casting her presidential primary ballot at the Joan P. Garner Library on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go: Check out this delightful little feature about Atlantans who found a favorite restaurant — and never stopped going. “You get to know these people and, they become a part of your life. ... They become your extended family.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
