Atlanta council seeks federal funds for Downtown’s ‘The Stitch’ – Reporter Newspapers & Atlanta Intown

Atlanta Metropolis Councilmember Amir Farokhi launched laws Sept. 6 that may search federal funding for preliminary engineering for The Sew, the lengthy talked about imaginative and prescient to cap the Downtown Connector.

The laws, backed by all the council, would authorize Mayor Andre Dickens to use for a fiscal yr 2022 U.S. Division of Transportation Reconnecting Communities Pilot discretionary grant within the quantity to not exceed $10.5 million utilizing Eastside Tax Allocation District funds or different relevant funding. It now goes to the Transportation Committee for dialogue.

Farokhi defined in his September publication that The Sew is a proposed cap over a bit of Interstate 75/85 in Atlanta’s central enterprise district between the Civic Middle MARTA rail station and Piedmont Avenue. The practically 1-mile platform would create a 14-acre park “on the coronary heart of Atlanta” to assist reconnect a divided portion of Downtown, he mentioned.

“Certainly, it will start to restore the hurt executed via the displacement of largely Black neighborhoods when the highways have been initially constructed,” Farokhi mentioned. “It would additionally create wanted greenspace and spur growth, together with housing. It’s estimated that the venture will result in 13.6 million sq. toes of recent growth, 6.1 million of which might be residential.”

“It is a transformative effort that I absolutely again,” Farokhi mentioned within the publication. “Hopefully, town, working with GDOT, MARTA, and federal companions, can proceed the progress in the direction of its completion.”

The Reconnecting Communities Pilot is the first-ever federal program devoted to reconnecting communities that have been beforehand minimize off from financial alternatives by transportation infrastructure, comparable to Candy Auburn in Downtown Atlanta.

Funding helps planning grants and capital building grants, in addition to technical help, to revive neighborhood connectivity via the removing, retrofit, mitigation, or alternative of eligible transportation infrastructure amenities, in accordance with the DOT.

Central Atlanta Progress and the Atlanta Downtown Growth District have been pushing for The Sew to change into a actuality for years. Final yr, The Sew obtained a $900,000 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Fairness (RAISE) grant from the U.S. Division of Transportation.

The Atlanta Downtown Enchancment District put out a Request for {Qualifications} earlier this yr for companies or organizations to offer consulting providers for planning and engineering design providers for The Sew from Baker Road/Piedmont Avenue bridge to the Ted Turner Drive bridge. The RFQs are due by Sept. 13, in accordance with data on ADID’s web site.