- Highway
- Segregation
- planned 1946–48; downtown section opened 1964
- City of Atlanta
- Location approximate
The Downtown Connector splits Sweet Auburn
The expressway was driven through the middle of Auburn Avenue, Atlanta's Black business street. It was part of a highway program that, with urban renewal, displaced almost 67,000 people between 1956 and 1966.
The record
The New Georgia Encyclopedia says Auburn Avenue 'was bisected by the construction of the Downtown Connector', and that many Auburn shopkeepers then moved their businesses elsewhere. The Georgia Exhibits urban renewal exhibit says I-75, I-85 and I-20 destroyed the downtown street grid and divided neighborhoods of mostly low-income Black residents. It adds that the displacement increased the demand for public housing. The encyclopedia's Atlanta article says highway building combined with urban renewal displaced almost 67,000 people from 1956 to 1966, shrinking the supply of housing open to Black families. By 1959 African Americans were 36 percent of the city's population but occupied only 16 percent of its residential land.
Today: Auburn Avenue passes under the Connector. Big Bethel and the Odd Fellows building stand west of the overpass, and the King historic district lies to the east.
Where on the map: Line: the Downtown Connector (I-75/85) from North Ave south to I-20; the Auburn Ave overpass is the point.