Steve Hirshon likes the idea of redesigning the Franklin Street corridor, a highway-like arterial that bisects Portland’s downtown peninsula.

Hirshon was one of more than 120 people who attended a presentation and information-gathering session Wednesday evening on the city’s evolving plan to reconfigure the three-quarter-mile route that connects Interstate 295 with Portland’s waterfront.

“I think there’s a tremendous amount of opportunity to make the road more functional for all users, open up development possibilities and create a less daunting roadway,” said Hirshon, who lives and works downtown.

The latest version of the proposal would remove the wide median that runs the length of Franklin, reduce the number of travel lanes between Congress and Commercial streets and shrink the overall width of the corridor. It also would open up land on both sides of the arterial for potential redevelopment, reconnect side streets and improve pedestrian and bicycle access.

Some at the meeting said they don’t like the plan, including Brian Peterson, a Gorham resident who used to live in Portland and still works in the city.

“They’re trying to kill Portland,” Peterson said. “(The proposed redesign) shuts down the life blood of commerce, transit and mobility. If people can’t drive here, they’ll go somewhere else.”

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Peterson and others shared their ideas and concerns about the Franklin redesign at a meeting hosted by the city’s advisory committee at the Portland Public Library. Several stations were set up around Rines Auditorium to collect comments on issues ranging from parking impacts to lane widths.

Many hope to reverse the destruction of neighborhoods and the division of the city that made way for the arterial when it opened in 1970. It was designed to make it more convenient for vehicles to travel in and out of Portland, in the hope that it would draw economic development to the city.

“It was a classic case of cutting off neighborhoods and undermining the fabric of the city,” said Catherine Offenberg, a landscape architect with IBI Group of Boston who is the project manager for the Franklin redesign.

The proposed redesign is meant to improve safety, reconnect Portland’s East End with the central downtown and open space for new development. In the process, Lincoln Park would be restored to something close to its original size and several cross streets would be reconnected, including Oxford and Federal.

One major concern that engineers are trying to address is the traffic bottleneck at the intersection of Franklin, Marginal Way and Interstate 295. An option that got mixed reviews Wednesday evening would allow only right-turning traffic from East Marginal Way onto the northbound ramp of Interstate 295.

Traffic from East Marginal Way would no longer be allowed to continue through the intersection toward Forest Avenue or to turn left onto Franklin. It would reduce the amount of traffic going through the intersection and would push some traffic onto other streets in the East Bayside neighborhood.

Many at the meeting talked about balancing various interests in the redesign, including Hilary Bassett, executive director of Greater Portland Landmarks. “We want to see Lincoln Park restored and we like the idea of reconnecting streets and neighborhoods,” Bassett said.

Chris O’Neil, who represents the Portland Regional Chamber on the advisory committee, said the plan would shrink the arterial’s oversized footprint and allow the development of wasted space. He also noted that the Maine Department of Transportation has a significant interest in the Franklin redesign and likely won’t allow traffic capacity to be greatly reduced.

“One of our cautions from the get-go was that this critical arterial to the downtown not be constricted to the point of dysfunction,” O’Neil said. “We have to remember that this is the financial and commercial capital of Maine.”


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