A new plan could transform the heart of Atlanta.
Instead of the Downtown Connector splitting Atlanta in half, imagine a park and buildings that stretch across the highway for blocks.
It is a huge 10-acre project and it is going to be revealed to the public soon.
The park would eventually end up in the area near the Civic Center MARTA station.
It is called The Stitch, and it would bring an urban park and development over the Downtown Connector.
A 1949 photo of Atlanta shows how interstates 75 and 85 separated the city.
Project managers tell Channel 2 Action News the idea would reconnect, or stitch, communities back together.
"I think we're in a time when we want to reconnect,” AJ Robinson with Central Atlanta Progress said.
"This would be one end of the park at Piedmont and Baker, right next to the Georgia Power building. It would continue over the Downtown Connector and snake its way to the other side of the city," Robinson said.
If approved, Robinson says the 10- to 15-acre project would take about one and a half to two decades to complete.
It will cost between $300 to $400 million of taxpayer and private dollars.
“We believe this is the next big thing,” Robinson said.
Robinson said that along with The Beltline and the Gulch project, this is a project that could help the city continue to transform.
He says for a year, they have been working on the project and will present it to the public in less than 30 days.
"We could go section by section, but the biggest challenge like The Stitch, is the highway. We're not going to shut down the connector," Robinson said.
Cox Media Group
