Funds Made Aailable Under the Biden Administration Make This Project Eligible For Them.
It’s been a very long slog, but at last the Franklin Street Redesign is back – in large part due to federal funding that became available for such projects under the Biden Administration. But will the funding be available when the Trump adminisration takes office next year? Who knows.
Fifteen years ago this month, the 13 member Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee, co-chaired by Markos Miler and Boyd Marley, presented a 40 page report to the city council for its review. Mr. Marley, a former State Representative and served as the chair of the Maine Legislation Transportation Committee. He is currently principal of the East End Community School on Munjoy Hill.
The goal of the Committee was to turn the Franklin Street area into a “vibrant urban corridor serving as an attrractive gateway to the city, connecting neighborhoods………through the mixed use of ……..residential, commercial and recreational space.” The report was based in part on extensive public input recorded during public meetings at Merrill Auditorium’s rehersal hall. But lack of funding for the plan was always an issue – one that could not be overcome and eventually relegated the reportt to the dusty shelves of city hall , until recently.
The idea to reclaim Franklin Arterial (changed to Street by former city manager Joe Gray), was the work of the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organzation and that of the Bayside Neighborhood Association The concept was a response to urban renewal that occurred in the 60s – displacing a low-income community and replacing it with a road meant to provide high speed access from 295 to the Portland waterfront. It has done that. It has also created waste space that could be better used for land for desparately needed housing in Portland.
On February 28, 2024, the Portland City Council voted unanimously to approve a study grant agreement between Portland and the MaineDOT. The agreement allows for the Redeign plan to be updated, analyzed for housing potential, and for the hiring of a consultant to prepare an application for submission to the federal government for funding for the Redesign of Franklin Street itself.
The city filed an application for the funds for the redesign of Franklin Street in September of this year with the federal government. It is unknown at this time whether or not the Trump administration will make these funds available or declare them a wasteful part of the budget. That determination is expected to come in March of 2025 according to Bruce Hyman, a city employee. Will the Trump administratdion declare these funds wasteful not making them available?
Why did it take the city of Portland so long to issue an RFP”” asks this blogger. “The city council approved the agreement in February of 2024. Why did it take the city six (6) months to issue the RFP?
For more background information, please visit posts herein dated February 28, 2024 and March 13, 2009. Please also visit post herein dated November 7, 2024 to read about a woman from Connecdticut who was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Congress and Franklin Streets and died on the scene.