Franklin Street Concepts

MRLD and Smart Mobility, the planning and traffic engineering consultants hired by the city to aid the Franklin Street Redesign Committee, have published two concepts for a new Franklin Street. Both feature extensive redevelopment opportunities, a restoration of Lincoln Park, restoration of cross-streets like Oxford, Federal, and Newbury, and downsizing Franklin to two lanes between Congress and Commercial Streets in the Old Port.

Hard copies of these images are available at City Hall. In the maps below, gray boxes indicate intersections with traffic signals; red areas indicate redevelopment opportunities, blue dotted lines represent new street connections.

Urban boulevard concept, with roundabouts at Cumberland, Congress, and Commercial. "The Urban Boulevard alternative has a landscaped median from Marginal Way to Congress, then transitions into a 2-lane urban street from Congress to Commercial. It includes a 2-way bike path on the north/east side of Franklin along its entire length from the Bayside Trail to the waterfront."


Multiway boulevard concept. "This alt. has a 6-lane multiway boulevard from Marginal Way to Oxford [4 lanes plus two low-speed parking/biking lanes on the outside]. At that point, it transitions into a 4-lane urban street, up the grade through Cumberland to Congress. From Congress to Marginal there would be a two lane urban street, with bike lanes."