Central Atlanta Progress unveils new vision for downtown Stitch project

March 13,2019

Sean Keenan, Curbed Atlanta

A decade from now, Atlanta’s Downtown Connector, as well as the hellish traffic it carries, could be covered with 14 acres of green space and new construction.

In all likelihood, the potentially monumental Stitch project, which seeks to cap the stretch of highway between the Civic Center MARTA stop and Piedmont Avenue, would take a lot longer than 10 years to realize.

After all, the Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services Panel, which Central Atlanta Progress contracted to study the proposed project site and its surrounding environs, said the Stitch could cost upwards of $450 million to complete, and securing such a bankroll and mapping out how to spend it would surely be time-consuming.

Nevertheless, if CAP and city officials are able to pull the colossal project off, the mixed-use district created would stitch together the borders of downtown and Midtown that have been bisected by the Connector for decades.

And on Tuesday, during CAP’s annual meeting, officials unveiled a stunning video rendering that teases what the half-mile leg of highway could evolve into.

The video, produced by marketing agency Jackson Spalding and virtual reality company Cubic, pans south from the Civic Center MARTA station toward Piedmont Avenue, slowly phasing in CAP’s imaginations for the corridor.

Read the complete article at the link above.