Gastonia’s Project CHANGE study — aimed at reconnecting the historically Black Highland community to downtown Gastonia — is in limbo.
The city of Gastonia announced in January that it had been awarded a $2 million federal grant through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grant Program for Project CHANGE (Connecting Highland: Access, Neighborhood Growth, Equity). The project aims to study ways to connect communities north of downtown Gastonia to the central business district.
Currently, communities in the Highland area are cut off from easy access to downtown by a railroad and a ditch.
That funding is now on pause, the city says, at a time when federal grants and programs are facing uncertainty and cuts.
In a statement to WFAE, a representative for the city of Gastonia said they remain optimistic about the project despite the funding pause and are awaiting guidance from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As part of the project, the city of Gastonia plans to commit $500,000 in local funds to study ways to transform the ditch.
