Ni racism ni retaliation: the truth about the $60 million lost from Miami’s Underdeck

Ni racism ni retaliation: the truth about the $60 million lost from Miami’s Underdeck. It wasn’t an attack on Overtown, and what Ken Russell and the Miami Herald aren’t saying.

Miami received this week the notification that $60,353,730 from the Underdeck (now Reverend Edward T. Graham Greenway) have been withdrawn. The Miami Herald and politicians like Ken Russell have presented it as a political action against Overtown, but official data shows another story: it was the result of a national rescission under the law H.R. 1 and not having secured the money in time.

Underdeck

• The Underdeck (Reverend Edward T. Graham Greenway)
• Location: Under the new elevated section of I-395, between Overtown and Downtown.
• Surface: Approximately 13 hectares (33 acres).
• Objective: To reconnect neighborhoods divided by the construction of the freeway in the 1960s, creating a street-level community park with green areas, trails, and cultural spaces.
• Original Funding: $60.35 million from the federal NAE program (lost after H.R. 1) + $10.8 million from local funding.
• Current Status: Project dependent on the completion of the Signature Bridge and new funding following the loss of the federal grant.

How H.R. 1 Works and What Funds It Eliminated

On July 4, 2025, the president signed the Fiscal Reconciliation Act of 2025 (H.R. 1 “One Big Beautiful Bill”), which eliminated unobligated balances from the federal Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (23 U.S.C. § 177).

1. In budget jargon, unobligated means that the legal grant agreement had not been signed by the deadline.

According to the Eno Center for Transportation’s analysis, the NAE received $3.205 billion, but only $805 million was legally obligated before H.R. 1 was signed. This means that nearly $2.4 billion in NAE projects were canceled nationwide.

For those who managed to sign before July 4, the money is guaranteed. For those who didn’t, the money legally “no longer exists.”

• Eno Center – “Reconciliation Law Kills Most, but Not All, Neighborhood Access Grants”
• Congress.gov – Official Text H.R. 1, Sec. 60019

Reliable sources on the Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) program, which was affected by the rescission of unobligated funds under H.R. 1, are available at: 1. “One Big Beautiful Bill” in 2025, approximately $776 million in funds were obligated on time for 60 of the 98 awarded projects, allowing them to be retained and not lost.

This means that these projects completed the necessary procedures (such as signing binding agreements with the Department of Transportation) before the July 4, 2025, deadline. Below are specific examples of projects that did use the funds on time and retain them, based on analyses of NAE awards that were legally bound before the rescission.

These are some of the largest highlights; this is not an exhaustive list of all 60, as not all sources provide complete details, but they represent confirmed cases:

Project: Removing Barriers and Creating Legacy
Location: Los Angeles, California
Amount: $139 million
Description: Multimodal investment package to remove barriers and enhance community legacy in disadvantaged areas.

Project: 2-mile Blue Line Track Replacement
Location: Chicago, Illinois (Chicago Transit Authority)
Amount: $111 million
Description: Track replacement on the Blue Line between Kedzie and Pulaski to improve accessibility and equity.

Project: Low/Non-Emission BRT Line on Bailey Avenue
Location: Buffalo, New York (Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority)
Amount: $102.7 million
Description: Design and construction of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in the City of Buffalo.

Project: Stride BRT Stations on I-405 South
Location: Seattle, Washington (Sound Transit)
Amount: $69.8 million
Description: Design and construction of two new stations in King County to improve access.

Project: Addressing barrier transportation facilities in disadvantaged communities
Location: Sacramento, California (Sacramento Area Council of Governments)
Amount: $22.5 million
Description: Projects to mitigate barriers in areas prioritized for infill development and bisected by automobile facilities.

Project: Transit Center on Reservation Lands
Location: Seminole Nation, Oklahoma (Seminole Nation Public Transit)
Amount: $22.5 million
Description: Construction of a new transit hub building on reservation lands.

Project: Series of projects in downtown Syracuse
Location: Syracuse, New York (New York State DOT)
Amount: $150 million (of an original $180 million award; three separate agreements were obligated for $71.5 million, $56.4 million, and $22.2 million)
Description: Projects in a disadvantaged downtown area. The state may narrow the scope or seek additional funding for the remaining $30 million.

These projects retained funding because they were legally obligated before termination, which protected them from automatic cancellation. In contrast, projects like the one in Miami (Heritage Trail/Underdeck, $60 million) and the one in Austin (Cap-and-Stitch on I-35, $105 million) lost their funding for not completing this step on time.

It wasn’t an attack on Overtown: it affected cities across the US.

The Eno Center documents that the rescission affected high-profile projects in multiple states. Some examples of grants canceled for lack of obligation:

• Portland, OR: $450 million for the Rose Quarter Improvement Project (only $37.5 million obligated).
• Boston, MA: $335.4 million to reconfigure I-90 in Allston (only $8.1 million obligated).
• Philadelphia, PA: $158.9 million for the Chinatown Stitch (only $8.4 million obligated).
• Atlanta, GA: $157.6 million for The Stitch (none obligated).
• Jacksonville, FL: $147.1 million for Emerald Trail (none obligated).
• Austin, TX: $105.2 million for Our Future 35 (none obligated).

This confirms that the Miami case was not an exception or a selective punishment, but part of a national pattern.

Miami’s Specific Problem: Legal Inference

The DOT reported that “The announced NAE funding has been rescinded and is no longer available.”
If the law only affects non-obligated funds, the only possible interpretation is that Miami did not sign the binding agreement in time. Other cities did and kept their money.

This is not “blaming” an administration for political reasons: it is describing a technical fact confirmed by the very mechanism of the law.

The NAE wasn’t a Biden-only program

The NAE was created in 2022 (the Inflation Reduction Act), and the Reconnecting Communities Program (RCP) in 2021 (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act).
Both were combined into the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods (RCN) program for the 2023 funding period. The Miami Underdeck program was funded by the NAE, which is why it was terminated.

What Ken Russell and the Miami Herald Don’t Say

It wasn’t a “just for Overtown” cut.

It wasn’t the president’s personal retaliation against a community.

It was the automatic application of a nationwide law to projects that hadn’t completed their legal obligation for funding.

The City had months to sign the agreement and secure the $60 million, but it didn’t do so in time.

Conclusion

The narrative of “Trump took $60 million from Overtown” is incomplete and misleading. The truth is that H.R. 1 eliminated unobligated NAE funds across the country, and Miami lost theirs because it did not complete the contractual process. This is a local administrative failure, not a selective political punishment.Residents deserve the full truth, not half-truths designed to inflame divisions.

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Source:

• https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article311641429.html
• https://hoodline.com/2025/08/trump-administration-withdraws-60-million-grant-for-miami-s-overtown-underdeck-project
• https://www.miamitodaynews.com/2024/03/19/miami-hits-federal-funding-jackpot-for-underdeck/
• https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text
• https://t4america.org/2025/07/08/congresss-new-budget-reconciliation-bill-takes-back-billions-from-locally-led-projects-across-the-country/
• https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/feds-withdraw-funds-for-i-35-cap-and-stitch-city-updates-status-of-other-grants
• Miami Herald – Notificación DOT y “fondos restantes”
• Hoodline – Retirada del grant
• Eno Center – Obligados vs no obligados
• FHWA Project Profile – I-395/SR 836/I-95 Design-Build
• Miami Today News – Demoras en el Underdeck