Reconnecting Atlanta

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has a new executive director. The ARC’s board voted in December to appoint Anna Roach, Fulton County’s chief operating officer since 2017, to head the 11-county planning agency.

Former U.S. senator and gubernatorial candidate David Perdue has filed a lawsuit seeking to inspect 147,000 of Fulton County’s absentee ballots from the 2020 election in an ongoing attempt to find election fraud in Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden.

The Stitch, Atlanta BeltLine get millions in federal grant funding

By Collin Kelley

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded Atlanta a $900,000 planning grant for The Stitch, the city’s ambitious plan to cap part of the Downtown Connector with a park, and $16 million for the Atlanta BeltLine’s Southside Trail project.

The Stitch would consist of 14 acres atop a platform spanning the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector between the Civic Center MARTA Center at West Peachtree Street and Piedmont Avenue.

The transformative project would reconnect a portion of Downtown’s street grid broken by the interstate 70 years ago, provide a new greenspace, and spur transit-oriented development around the park, as well as affordable housing.

The Stitch is not the only interstate capping project being floated for the city. The proposed Midtown Connector would stretch from 10th Street to North Avenue with a 25-acre park over the interstate, while the long-simmering park over Georgia 400 would provide new greenspace in Buckhead.

Want to Quit Smoking?

The City of Atlanta and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. were also awarded a $16.46 million RAISE grant from the USDOT for the construction of nearly two miles of the Southside Trail.

The segment, which spans from Pittsburgh Yards in southwest Atlanta to Boulevard in the southeast, will be a big step for connecting the Westside and Eastside Trails.

Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. President and CEO Clyde Higgs said in a statement the organization was “incredibly appreciative to the USDOT and our congressional delegation for the recognition and support of the Atlanta BeltLine.”

“This project is much more than public infrastructure,” Higgs continued. “With people at the forefront, the BeltLine is improving connections to jobs, schools, and opportunities, enhancing equity and mobility, and fostering culture.”

Shepherd Center has filed plans for a major expansion that will add housing for its patients and their families. The project at 1860 Peachtree Road will add about 160 housing units, more than doubling the current housing provided by the rehabilitation hospital.

The RAISE grant will also leverage design and construction funding from the Special Service District and the Tax Allocation District (TAD). The grant builds on $4 million in federal funding received earlier this year through the Atlanta Regional Commission Transportation Improvement Program.

“When we connect our communities with pedestrian and bike trails, we provide a pathway for residents to enjoy local green spaces and invest in small businesses,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, who helped secure the grant along with colleague Sen. Jon Ossoff. “We bolster social and economic mobility for hardworking Georgians when we make strong federal investments in projects like the Atlanta BeltLine, and I look forward to securing more our state.”

“This $16 million investment in the BeltLine is going to substantially accelerate the project and will help communities all around Metro Atlanta,” Ossoff said. “When I was campaigning for the Senate, I made promises to deliver resources for the BeltLine, and I’m keeping those promises.”

Construction is expected to get underway within approximately two years, following the necessary preparations of brownfield remediation, utility relocation, and securing permits.

The 1.9-mile trail will include six ADAaccess points, including ramps and retention walls, and two enhanced at-grade crossings. The total cost for construction of these segments of the Southside Trail is approximately $40 million.

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