BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A $14.5 million federal grant awarded to the city of Birmingham to improve the Historic 4th Avenue Business District has been withdrawn, city officials confirmed, halting plans for major roadway changes along the corridor.
The funding, announced in March 2024, came from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Neighborhood Access and Equity Program. The $14,556,040 grant was intended to help reconnect the city’s Historic 4th Avenue Black Business District by converting 15 blocks from a one-way to a two-way street and improving access to surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.
At the time of the announcement, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell said the investment would help restore a corridor that was divided by the construction of Interstate 65 in the 1960s…