Pingree Announces $2 Million Federal Grant to Support Portland’s Franklin Street Redevelopment

Thanks to a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) grant program announced this week, the City of Portland is making significant progress toward its long-planned goal to redesign the Franklin Street corridor, Maine's First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree announced today.

The Franklin Street Update aims to transform one of Portland's most heavily used streets into a modernized urban corridor that better serves residents, pedestrians, motorists, and cyclists-while creating a stronger connection between the surrounding neighborhoods and the rest of the city.

"The construction of the Franklin Street arterial in the late 1960s had a challenging impact on many Portlanders, resulting in the demolition of whole neighborhoods, the displacement of longtime residents, and a permanent physical divide through the heart of the city," said Congresswoman Pingree. "With this project, the City is taking an important step towards creating a safer, more equitable, and more unified Portland. I'm thrilled that the Department of Transportation, thanks to the historic investment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has the means to support projects like this across the country."

"The City of Portland is thrilled to be awarded the $2 million in Reconnecting Communities funding from the federal government in partnership with MaineDOT. This funding will significantly advance the City's efforts to transform Franklin Street into a multi-modal, connected corridor that has the potential to foster significant economic growth and residential development in the heart of the City," said Bruce Hyman, Transportation Program Manager for the City of Portland's Department of Planning and Urban Development. "The project embodies the core objectives of the Reconnecting Communities program by addressing the social and physical divides created during the urban renewal era, helping to reunite neighborhoods and strengthen community connections."

The Franklin Street Update, first launched in 2009 by concerned citizens and adopted by the Portland City Council in 2015, includes removing the existing grassy median, adding bike lanes and pedestrian spaces on either side of Franklin Street, and creating a new roundabout at the intersection of Franklin and Commercial Streets to improve traffic flow and safety.

Construction on the project is expected to begin sometime between 2026 and 2030.

Created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021, U.S. DOT's Reconnecting Communities Pilot grant program aims to address the impact of transportation infrastructure that has divided or isolated communities-particularly those disproportionately affected by the construction of highways, railroads, and other transportation infrastructure.

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