Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) at an Event in Portland Several Years Ago.

Bruce Hyman, Transportation Project Manager for the City of Portand

“Thanks to a $2 million grant from the US Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Reconnecting Communities PIlot (RCP) grant program announced this week, the city of Portland is making significant progress toward its long-planned goal to redesign Franklin Street corridor,” announced  Chellie Pingree (D-ME), First District Congresswoman. this morning in a press release issued from her office.

The Franklin Street Update aims to transform one of Portland’s most heavily used streets into a modernized urban corridor that better serves residents, pedestrians, motorists and cyclists – while creating a stronger connection between the surrounding neighborhoods and the rest of the city.

“The construction of the Franklin Street arterial in the late 1999s had a challenging impact on many Portlanders, resulting in the demolition of whole neighborhoods, the displacement of longtime residents and a permanent physical divide through the heart of the city,” said Congresswoman Pingree.  “With this project, the city is taking an important step towards creating a safer, more equitable and more united Portand.  I’m thrilled that the Department of Transportation, thanks to the historic investment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has the means to support projects like this across the country.”

“The city of Portland is thrilled to be awarded the $2 million in Reconnecting Communities funding from the federal government in partnership with DOT.  This funding will significantly advance the city’s efforts to transform Franklin Street into a multi-modal, connected corridor that has a potential to foster significant economic growth and residential development in the heart of the city,” said Bruce Hyman, Transportation Project Manager for the city of Portland.  “The project embodies the core objectives of the Reconnecting Communities Neighborhoods program by addressing the social and physical divides created during the urban renewal era, helping to reunite neighborhoods and strengthen community connections.”

The Franklin Street Update, first launched in 2009 by concerned citizens and adopted by the Portland City Council in 2015, includes remodeling the existing grassy median, adding bike lanes and pedestrian spaces on either side of Franklin Street, and creating a new roundabout at the intersection of Franklin and Commercial Sreets to improve traffic flow and safety.

Construction on the project is expected to begin sometime between 2026 and 2030.

“The redesign has great potential – to reclaim and enlarge parts of Lincoln Park, to make the street safer for both pedestrians and traffic.  There are also economic and housing opportunities that could be created from redesigning that space making Franklin Street into a true urban corridor that meets the needs of our community.  When it was first built it was simply seen as moving traffic, but it had many unintended consequences.  This is an opportunity for the community to better use that space for Portlanders, as well as the commuter who uses it ,” said ‘Boyd Marley, principal of East End Community School.  About 15 years ago he served as co-chair of the .Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee.  Mr. Marley is also a former state representative who was chairperson of the Maine Legislative Transportation Committee. The other co-chair of the local study committee  was Markos Miller of the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization.  He is a teacher in South Portland who lives on Munjoy Hill.

For background information on the Redesign, please visit posts herein dated November 9, 2024 and February 26, 2024.