Rebuild Franklin Street Now

Rebuild Franklin Street Now Graphic: C. MilNeil In summary, the Rebuilding of Franklin Street will reverse outdated planning assumptions, and reintegrate the Portland Peninsula.

The Franklin Street Plan will create a vibrant urban corridor, balancing transportation needs for all people, in a context of housing, parks and open-space, and mixed-use development. • Reclaiming up to 6 acres of under-utilized public land.
• Creating opportunities for a 1000+ housing units.
• Expanding historic Lincoln Park, pocket parks, and open space.
• Reconnecting the urban fabric and historic neighborhoods.
• Generating economic development and increased tax revenue.
• Improving safety and mobility for current and future traffic, including motor vehicles, transit, bicycles, and pedestrians.
• Strengthening connections between the waterfront and Old Port, Back Cove and 295, and East End neighborhoods with Downtown and Bayside.
• Enhancing redevelopment opportunities for underutilized public land adjacent to the corridor.

Today is the last day to submit your online comments for the draft concept design for Franklin St. It is important and c...
09/25/2026

Today is the last day to submit your online comments for the draft concept design for Franklin St. It is important and can make a difference.

FRA is looking at this through the following lens':
1. Opportunities for housing development
2. Street reconnections
3. Slowing traffic
4. Improved pedestrain safety and access
5. Improved bicycle safety and access
6. Creating a sense of place
7. Strengthening the urban character of the corridor

Check it out and subit your comments here:
https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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After viewing the draft concept plan for Portland's Franklin Street on Sept 10th we were concerned about the amount of h...
09/24/2026

After viewing the draft concept plan for Portland's Franklin Street on Sept 10th we were concerned about the amount of housing it would support. It appeared to be less than the FRA housing study of the 2015 Master Plan anticipated.

As we looked closer at the two analysis, we realized that different assumptions and methodologies were used. FRA's housing team met this week to review our work from 2023 and to align the methodologies that the city/WSP study used.

One big difference was FRAs consideration of all publicly owned (city, county PHA) land vs the citys exclusive focus on adjacent city land. There were also many similarities: our processes for arriving at unit counts and sizes were pretty consistent.

However, for the clearest and simplest comparison we focused on buildable city owned land reclaimed in the 2015 study to compare with the current Reimagining Franklin study. The parcels vary due to differetn raodway alignments used, but in general we can see a strong correlation at each block. The Reimagining study recalims about 17% more land. This is good since that is a goal of the current study. Development was not a focus of the 2015 study.

Of course, how this land is used is another question. Development vs. additional green space becomes the focus of a future debate- one that our community can continue to explore in the engineering PDR phase of the study, and that ultimately, the Council will decide.

What do you think?
Does anything surprise you?
Does anything concern you?

ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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At Portland's Sept 10th meeting on the Franklin Street redesign, the city shared this board summarizing the public input...
09/22/2026

At Portland's Sept 10th meeting on the Franklin Street redesign, the city shared this board summarizing the public input they have collected during this study. We assume this includes the April 2025 Open House, the June 2025 Workshops, the 2025 online survey, and the other more focused oureach efforts in 2025.

What do you notice about this information?
What questions do you have?
Is there any thing you think is missing?

As time permits, we will dig into this, and other materials related to theis study.
However, with limited resources of a volunteer citizen effort, our focus is going to be shifting. The city will share a refined Franklin Street proposal to the Sustainability and Transportation Committee in October (20th?). In advance of this we will:
1. Work to understand why specific design choices were made.
2. Highlight the tradeoffs embedded in these design choices.
3. Focus our advocacy efforts so that elected officials and key partners can engage in these discussions as informed and thoughfully as possible.

We encourge you to do the same.
We will continue to post when we can, and promise to alert you to key events or advicacy efforts needed. We've been posting regularly since the summer of 2022. We're ready for slow it down a bit.

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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At Portland's Franklin Street meeting on Sept 10th, the study team posted a series of boards highlighting various aspect...
09/21/2026

At Portland's Franklin Street meeting on Sept 10th, the study team posted a series of boards highlighting various aspects of their proposed design. This board, titled GROW, shows, perhaps, the most important component of the proposed design: land reclaimed in the design and what to do with it.
This week the team that conducted the original 2023 FRA housing study will meet to compare the city's new proposal with the 2015 baseline. We also consider the different methodologies used in each analysis to be sure that we are comparing "apples to apples".
In the meantime, we'd like to hear what you think of the city's choices here. What do you like? What questions do you have? What different choices would you like to see considered?

ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now! � , , , , , . , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HEAL is another one of the categories used in the study to organize the design choices made in the City's draft propsoal...
09/18/2026

HEAL is another one of the categories used in the study to organize the design choices made in the City's draft propsoal for the current Franklin Street study.

We'll take a closer look at this in the weeks ahead, but do want to highlight one really important thing here, that does not jump out as being important:

#3: Modernized Stormwater Management
- Includes a corridor-wide sewer-stormwater separation strategy to reduce Back Cove and Portland Harbor pollution
- Integrates green infrastructure within curb extensions and streetscape to capture and manage runoff.

That first point is that Franklin Street will eventually be ripped open to complete the storm water/sewer separation work that is federally mandated. The question is how will we put the street back together, like it is today, or in a way that better positions our city to better address the issues we face today and that lay in our future?

This should be the lead for the entire study.

Yes, redesigning Frannklin St is a great idea; but even folks who may not buy in to the vision, or at least question the cost, begin to see things differently in the context of a (basically federally mandated) 3/4 mile excavation from Marginal Way to the Waterfront,

https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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We are not fans of cute buzz words, so the over arching framework of Move, Heal, Grow seems a little cringy to us, but w...
09/18/2026

We are not fans of cute buzz words, so the over arching framework of Move, Heal, Grow seems a little cringy to us, but whatever. Let's talk about MOVE.

There are so many wins here that we must celebrate.
1. Quality pedestrian facilities and separated bike lanes were absolutely essential, and they are there, and, in general, it's good stuff. We can get into the details later.
2. Street Reconnections! Hurray! This was a major flaw in the 2015 plan. We appreciate all the work City staf has done to advance this forward. We must also celebrate Maine DOT's warming up to the concept of street reconnections. It was a massive lift to gain the reconnection of Federal St. and the right turn in/out at Oxford in the 2015 plan. We coul dnot be happier with the street connections envisioned in the Reimagining plan. Great Work!

BTW: we did request that these graphic we are reviewing this week be shared on the projkect website.
https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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The Reimagining Franklin Street study has had an "evolution" of goals, objectives, and guiding principles, depending on ...
09/16/2026

The Reimagining Franklin Street study has had an "evolution" of goals, objectives, and guiding principles, depending on what meeting attended or slide show you saw. This Guiding Framework was displayed at the Sept 10 meeting. It is similar to the Guiding Principles shared early in 2026 presentations to neighborhood organizations. Open Space and Urban Place are updated categories, which seem to provide some wiggle room to shift focus from long standing priorities. We're digging through past city documents to better understand exactly what has changed, and what might conflict with long standing goals in the Franklin St. redesign effort.

How does this Guiding Framework align with your hopes and concerns for Franklin Street? How would you refine them to better guide this work going forward?

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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Last Thursday's Franklin Street workshop included some posters about background information about the study. These are i...
09/16/2026

Last Thursday's Franklin Street workshop included some posters about background information about the study. These are importan things like goals, vision, guding principles, etc. The study team had shared some of these, like vision and goals, back in 2025 in draft form, but never formally finalized them In fact, we were told they could continue to evolve. That was troubling to hear.

A couple of them are pretty specific, like restore land to Lincoln Park, or reconnect cross streets, but many of them are pretty vague and could lead to a wide range of objectives, which could clash with other stated goals. How do coompeting goals and objectives get negotiated in this study? Is there a transparent framework that can demonstrate this to the publ;ic and elected officials?

Which of these goals would you prioritize?
Which ones do you have questions about?
Let us know!

https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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Housing supposed to be front and center along with transportation in the Reimagining Franklin Street study. You wouldn't...
09/14/2026

Housing supposed to be front and center along with transportation in the Reimagining Franklin Street study. You wouldn't know from looking at the materials shared at the Sept. 10 open house.
See all that colorful detail about cars, and bikes, and sidewalks? See all the attention to vehicle lanes?
Compare that with the blank white boxes labeled "Potential Future Development Area". It sounds like a hazard zone, not the future home for Portlanders.
Why are we not told about the size of these lots? The number of units they could accommodate? The value of the land created? The taxes generated when developed?
Creating opportunities for housing was, perhaps, the number one priority of the Council when they approved this study.
However, there was nothing here that indicated that this was the case.
Can the study team clarify this? Will they correct this?
How will councilors respond when they understand this?

https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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Did you attend last nights Franklin St meeting? If so, what did you think?You can contribute online comments for the nex...
09/11/2026

Did you attend last nights Franklin St meeting? If so, what did you think?

You can contribute online comments for the next 2 weeks, and it is IMPORTANT that you do that, even if you gave feedback at the workshop. In the earlier online comment periods there tended to be more detractors. I appreciate multiple ways to provide feedback, but showing up in person should count for more than posting online. It's easy to post from home or on your phone. It's easy to do it over and over. So, in some cases, people who are less invested, more cynical, or who just want to bang away at their one issue, may rely on the remote commenting.
In the earlier comment periods, we saw very repetitive comments that were significantly outside of the norm compared to people who attended in person.

So, be sure to get your comments online also by Sept 25th. They are needed!

I talk more about what we learned at the meeting in the coming weeks, but the short summary is:
1. We love the street reconnections
2. The projected housing gains are shamefully low. We are digging in deeper to see what went wrong here (maybe this has not been as "housiing-centric" as we'd been led to beleive?), and come up with some recommendations for how the city can correct this before it's too late.
We will touch on more of the draft designs, but also want to hear from you. What did you like? What surprised you? What improvements do you want to see?

https://www.reimaginingfranklin.me/draft-plan

Let's Make Sure They ReBuild Franklin Street Right, Now!
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