On March 12, 2024, Congresswoman Nikema Williams announced that two of Atlanta's signature infrastructure projects had secured a combined $207,645,161 in federal funding through the Neighborhood Access and Equity Program — a grant mechanism that Williams herself had authored and shepherded into law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The larger share — $157,645,161 — went to the Stitch, downtown Atlanta's plan to cap Interstates 75 and 85 with a 14-acre multi-use greenspace between the Civic Center and Peachtree Street. The remaining $50 million was earmarked for a connection between the Atlanta BeltLine and the Flint River Trail near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
What the Stitch Funding Covers
The $157.6 million will fund Phase 1 construction of the Stitch — the section that will create up to five acres of new park space over the Downtown Connector, improve seven downtown streets, and enhance pedestrian and transit connectivity to the MARTA Civic Center station. The project aims to reconnect neighborhoods that were severed when the interstate was built through downtown in the 1950s and 1960s, displacing thousands of residents and destroying established communities.
The Stitch has been in planning for over a decade. A special tax district was created in 2019 to generate local matching funds. Community advocates rallied at the state capitol in 2023 to push for state support. The federal allocation represented the largest single funding commitment the project had received and moved Phase 1 from aspiration to construction timeline.
BeltLine Connection
The $50 million for the BeltLine-Flint River Trail connection extends the reach of Atlanta's 22-mile loop trail system southward, linking it to communities near the airport that have historically been underserved by the city's parks and transportation investments. The connection promotes economic growth in surrounding neighborhoods and creates a continuous trail corridor from Midtown to the city's southern boundary.
The Federal Pipeline
The Neighborhood Access and Equity Program was designed specifically for projects that address the damage caused by highway construction through urban neighborhoods — exactly the problem the Stitch was conceived to solve. Williams had previously secured over $70 million for BeltLine completion, including $25 million to connect the trail to the Lindbergh Center MARTA station.
Key implementation partners included Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Regional Commission Director Anna Roach, Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry, and MARTA General Manager Collie Greenwood. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock provided advocacy support at the federal level.
The $207 million announcement did not mean shovels in the ground the next morning. Federal infrastructure grants come with environmental review requirements, design milestones, and matching-fund obligations. But for the Stitch — a project that had spent years building political support, creating tax districts, and rallying the public — the federal funding was the signal that construction was no longer a question of if, but when.
Original reporting by Georgia Public Broadcasting, March 12, 2024.