Beltline ‘hopeful, working’ to keep grant funds amid federal cancellations

In the weeks since federal officials slashed a $9 million grant to bring WiFi to the Beltline, organizational leaders are “hopeful” while they work to keep a $25 million trail expansion grant from getting canceled. 

A $9 million “digital equity” grant was one of many to get cut by the Trump administration in May. The president announced widespread overhauls to federal grant agreements to limit “woke” ideology and government size. 

After the cancellation, CEO Clyde Higgs sounded the alarm on another grant: The $25 million Department of Transportation funding set to build out a Northeast Trail segment and link the Beltline to the Lindbergh MARTA station. When the grant was announced in 2023, it was the largest funding award in the trail project’s history.

But now it’s in limbo. Beltline Government Affairs Vice President Jill Johnson said the “digital equity” and northeast segment grants were the two that drew the most concern after the Trump administration took office because the agreements had not yet been signed. 

“This is not the first time we have worked with the federal government and with President Trump at the helm, right?” Johnson said. “We anticipated priorities were going to shift.” 

In the summer of 2023, the Department of Transportation awarded the Beltline and the City of Atlanta $25 million in discretionary funding to build out the 2.2-mile trail segment. The Northeast corridor lacks railroad lines, making the project’s fate “uncertain” until the influx of cash came through.

According to Johnson, it took over a year to agree on the final grant language. City and state officials signed on, and the proposal was submitted to the Office of Federal Highway Administration in February. 

“Unfortunately, everything’s been on pause since then,” Johnson said. 

The trail segment is in funding purgatory alongside thousands of other projects, including the Stitch project aimed at capping Atlanta’s highway connector with greenspace. Johnson said the Beltline is now waiting on U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to execute the grant agreement. 

Johnson said the Beltline is “hopeful, but working hard” to raise awareness about the Beltline, particularly its economic impact. The government affairs team wants people unfamiliar with the 22-mile trail project to see it as “main street without cars.” It’s a strategic focus for the project moving forward.

“[The administration] wants to make sure if these projects move forward, they move forward in a way that is in line with the President’s executive order that he has issued,” Johnson said. 

Historically, ideas like “equity” and diversity have been at the forefront of the Beltline project and its affordable housing and entrepreneurship initiatives. The canceled $9 million grant focused on so-called “digital equity.”  When the Beltline announced the trail expansion grant, it said the money would build a “safer and more equitable” system.

But that language is part of the Trump administration’s no-go list. 

If the Beltline wants to get federal funds, the language will likely have to change. Johnson said it’s “plausible” that the project leaders will need to rewrite a grant agreement with new language to get it passed. 

The “BUILD” federal grant is focused on surface transportation projects with “significant local or regional impact.” Johnson said the goal is to emphasize how much the Beltline has helped grow Atlanta’s economy. 

The path is an economic juggernaut for Atlanta. Since its creation, more than $9 billion in private investment has taken place within a mile on either side of the corridor. The Beltline itself has created over 29,000 permanent jobs and even more temporary jobs. 

Alongside the trail, businesses have sprung up in popular areas like the Eastside trail. Over 6,000 businesses are registered within a half mile of the corridor. On sunny days, the paths are overrun by locals and tourists alike as they walk, drink and shop in the nearby spots. 

But the project is far from finished. Eighty-five percent of the trail is under construction or completed, and all 22 miles are set for a 2030 finish. The majority of the organization’s funding comes from local tax dollars through a Tax Allocation District, but a third of the money is still from federal funds. 

Johnson said the Beltline feels good about its grant portfolio, especially since the project has robust local and philanthropic funds. But organization leaders worry there won’t be an easy backup fund for the hefty grant.

“If it were $2 million, we’d have an easy Plan B,” CEO Clyde Higgs said. “But this is $25 million.”

In the meantime, the Beltline will keep moving forward with its current projects. If the team gets the grant funds executed, it will jump into construction. The government affairs team will keep vying for federal dollars, too.

“We’re absolutely still moving forward and examining and vetting all funding opportunities as they’re coming out of the federal government,” Johnson said. “To see if there are places where Atlanta’s Beltline can be competitive.”