Reclaiming Franklin Street
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Reclaiming Franklin Street Report of the Franklin Street Arterial Committee Prepared for the Portland City Council Project Consultants November 30, 2009 This report is the result of many months of hard work by the following people, who each contributed significantly to a successful, community‐ based planning process. In addition, many members of the public contributed by attending meetings, providing comments, and thoughtful input. This effort has been marked by a high level of mutual respect and cooperation of all parties, and should have lasting impact as the future of the Franklin Street corridor unfolds. Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee Support Staff Boyd Marley and Markos Miller ‐ Co‐chairs Michael Bobinsky – Director of Public Services Alex Landry – Bayside Neighborhood Assoc. Katherine Earley – Engineering Services Manager Katie Brown – Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Assoc. Alex Jaegerman – Planning Division Manager Catherine Debo – Casco Bay Lines Bill Needleman – Senior Planner Laura Thibodeau – Chamber of Commerce Greg Mitchell – Director of Economic Development Cyrus Hagge – Downtown District Gerald Varney – FHWA Michael Langella – Peaks Island Carl Eppich – PACTS Robert Stevens – Real Estate Greg Martin – East Bayside Neighborhood Assoc. Jaime Parker – Portland Trails Project Consultants Mark Adelson – Portland Housing Authority Lucy Gibson – Smart Mobility, Norwich, Vermont Ethan Boxer‐Macomber and Elizabeth Hoglund – Off Peninsula Mitch Rasor and Yoni Blumberg – MRLD LLC., Yarmouth, Maine Mike Laberge – Maine DOT City of Portland | Franklin Street Concepts 30 November 2009 Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................... iv Study Background and Process ....................................................................... 1 Vision Statement of the Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee ............... 1 History of Franklin Street ................................................................................ 2 Other Related Projects and Planning Activities .............................................. 4 Supporting Policy ............................................................................................ 8 Public Involvement........................................................................................ 14 Franklin Street Design Considerations .......................................................... 17 Current Conditions ........................................................................................ 18 Design Issues and Concepts .......................................................................... 25 Design Criteria ............................................................................................... 28 Franklin Street Concept Alternatives ............................................................ 31 Recommendations for Phase 2 ..................................................................... 40 Short Term Recommendations ..................................................................... 40 Page | i City of Portland | Franklin Street Concepts 30 November 2009 The core principles of the CSS planning approach apply to transportation planning processes, outcomes, and decision‐making. They are: 1. Strive towards a shared stakeholder vision to provide a basis for decisions; 2. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of contexts; Reclaiming Franklin Street 3. Foster continuing communication and collaboration to achieve consensus; 4. Exercise flexibility and creativity to shape effective transportation Report of the Franklin Street Arterial Study Committee solutions, while preserving and enhancing community and natural City of Portland, Maine environments. The CSS process is a multi‐disciplinary and collaborative approach that integrates transportation planning and land‐use planning with the goal of Executive Summary creating a vibrant and economically vital place that is in harmony with the The Franklin Study Committee was charged with developing three community. In the urban context, land use, site design, and building design alternative design concepts that would address challenges and are important factors that inform the transportation design. The planning opportunities for the Franklin Street Arterial corridor. The outcomes of this outcome is an infrastructure design that stimulates and supports a study would then undergo a more detailed analysis in a follow‐up Phase combination of public and private investment to create a human‐scaled Two study. The Phase Two analysis, based on criteria established in Phase mixed‐use environment. One – engineering and economic constraints, and stakeholder and community input – would inform a preferred final design for the Franklin Following the CSS process, Phase One of the Franklin Study has focused on corridor. The Phase One study process, which was carried out over twenty‐ developing a broad spectrum of possible solutions that balance the interests one public bi‐monthly meetings, followed a Context Sensitive Solutions of all stakeholders. The study has been guided by a shared vision that a model, bringing a holistic approach to traffic planning by viewing the reclaimed Franklin Street can better serve vehicular traffic, pedestrians, and roadway in the context of its physical, social, and economic environment. other modes, while creating opportunities for economic development and strengthening the urban character of the Franklin Street corridor. These Context sensitive solutions (CSS) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary solutions are presented in three alternative designs; however, many approach that involves all stakeholders in providing a transportation elements of these designs can be mixed and matched or refined in Phase facility that fits its setting. It is an approach that leads to preserving Two to create an optimal design. and enhancing scenic, aesthetic, historic, community, and environmental resources, while improving or maintaining safety, mobility, and infrastructure conditions. Phase Two of the Franklin Study will continue the CSS approach, evaluating the feasibility of the various design components of each alternative design. –Results of the Joint AASHTO/FHWA Context Sensitive Solutions Strategic Using the guiding documents from Phase One (Vision Statement, Planning Process Summary Report, March 2007 Performance Criteria) as well as community input, this feasibility study will analyze the alternative designs through multiple lenses, taking into account Page | ii City of Portland | Franklin Street Concepts 30 November 2009 issues of engineering, economics, traffic and pedestrian needs, costs, and multi‐modal use. This led to an exploration of a variety of road types found community interests. Phase Two will result in a preferred design and a clear in other communities, including multi‐way boulevards, reverse directional accounting of the decision‐making process. lanes, and parkways, to name a few. The committee also researched arterial redesigns and highway removal projects in other American urban centers. The committee looked to the relevant sections of Portland's Comprehensive The committee found numerous examples of roadways that served similar Plan to ground its work in what the City of Portland is and what it aspires to or higher volumes of traffic, while safely accommodating diverse users and become. Portland's Transportation Plan and Transit Plan described supporting mixed‐use development in an urban context. The committee important travel patterns and opportunities; the Housing Plan, along with also explored the possibility of modern roundabouts as an intersection the Eastern Waterfront Master Plan and the New Vision for Bayside, treatment at certain locations. This included field trips to Augusta and described the dense, mixed‐use, self‐sufficient development the city sought; Auburn, interviews with Maine DOT staff and Auburn officials, and other the Open Space Plan and the Shoreway Access Plan clarified the city's value exchanges with communities that have roundabouts. of access to open space and the water's edge. The Context Sensitive Solutions model calls for an ongoing engagement with In order to better understand the nature of Franklin Street Arterial, and its the public and stakeholder groups to ground the study in the context of the role in the region, the committee explored the mixed‐use nature of the local community. The Study Committee utilized a variety of public original neighborhood, examined historical traffic volumes, and studied the engagement techniques to solicit input from key stakeholder groups, and number of crash incidents. To provide context to this analysis, data was from the public at‐large. Property and business owners along the corridor compared with similar streets in the city. State Street and High Street were were invited to learn about the study goals and to share their hopes and found to carry similar or slightly higher volumes of traffic, and were concerns early in the study process. Additionally, members of Portland's informative in their scale and relation to the urban context of the Portland visually impaired community participated in several meetings as consultants peninsula. Traffic volumes on Franklin have changed little over the last to share their concerns about pedestrian safety issues and the importance twenty years; data for recent years indicate a slight decline in daily of roadway design. averages. The committee also held a walking tour of Franklin Street Arterial to identify