Streetscape not just about looks
Crews to break ground today on first phase of 12-year project
The Tennessean• May 28, 2008
FRANKLIN — It took 16 years, but supporters of the city project referred to as streetscape finally have some momentum.
With years of delays behind them, city crews will break ground today on the $4.3 million road improvement project for Third and Fifth avenues north.
It's the first part of the city's Gateway Corridor and Connector Streets Economic Development Project envisioned as a 12-year project that will cost millions.
Project supporters are fending off criticism that the roadwork is purely cosmetic. Instead, they contend, it is crucial to downtown's streets and drivers and, when complete, will help the greater community.
After all the parts are done, more than nine miles of roads and 36 neighborhoods would be affected.
"Our streets downtown ought to have the same aesthetic sense as they do in the outlying areas, outside of the business district, and the core," said Ed Silva, an attorney and chairman of a committee of citizens and business owners appointed and charged by Mayor John Schroer to oversee the project.
Silva met recently with community members and city leaders to discuss the launch of the project's new phase and dispel the misconceptions of some in the community about the work.
Last project a boost
When the work gets under way, it will pick up just a few blocks from where the last streetscape project ended in 1992. That work began in the late 1980s.
Silva credits the sidewalk and infrastructure upgrades made back then in helping boost downtown Franklin's profile at a time when he said it was sorely needed. The work stretched from Five Points to the Harpeth River bridge.
At the time, Main Street wasn't the draw for tourists and businesses that it is today because of its condition, he said.
"It has been 16 years and a lot of the people weren't here when Main Street looked absolutely horrible," Silva said. "It clearly was a cosmetic disaster."
Figures released as part of a report on the project say there's been a $50 million new investment in the area, while occupancy in downtown buildings has risen from 35 percent to 90 percent.
Though the project may have the streetscape moniker, its expenses include improvements to roads and sidewalks that have not been addressed in years.
Citizens can help
Using the Third Avenue North and Fifth Avenue North project as a guide, consultant John Grossman calculates that 50 percent of the work's cost will pay for infrastructure that he defines as curbs, gutters, storm drainage, traffic signals and other basics.
Only 12 percent of the costs would go to the aesthetic items, such as brick pavers, new benches and historic-looking light fixtures.
"In its roots, it's not a beautification project," said Grossman, president of Akron, Ohio-based E.G. & G. Inc. "It's an infrastructure project and we're trying to do it comprehensively so that it can create first-class location."
The project's costs might be offset somewhat if there's greater participation of residents. Silva reiterated his call for private citizens to further help by purchasing ceremonial pavers and benches to save the city from buying those amenities. How much that might raise isn't clear yet, as the prices of those items have not been finalized.
Meanwhile, city leaders are speaking up for the work even as they are faced with a tighter-than-anticipated city budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Alderman Bev Burger says the project's completion helps the city as a whole.
"Not only does it benefit all of Franklin, it benefits our community elsewhere around us as well," Burger said.
Crews to break ground today on first phase of 12-year project
The Tennessean• May 28, 2008
FRANKLIN — It took 16 years, but supporters of the city project referred to as streetscape finally have some momentum.
With years of delays behind them, city crews will break ground today on the $4.3 million road improvement project for Third and Fifth avenues north.
It's the first part of the city's Gateway Corridor and Connector Streets Economic Development Project envisioned as a 12-year project that will cost millions.
Project supporters are fending off criticism that the roadwork is purely cosmetic. Instead, they contend, it is crucial to downtown's streets and drivers and, when complete, will help the greater community.
After all the parts are done, more than nine miles of roads and 36 neighborhoods would be affected.
"Our streets downtown ought to have the same aesthetic sense as they do in the outlying areas, outside of the business district, and the core," said Ed Silva, an attorney and chairman of a committee of citizens and business owners appointed and charged by Mayor John Schroer to oversee the project.
Silva met recently with community members and city leaders to discuss the launch of the project's new phase and dispel the misconceptions of some in the community about the work.
Last project a boost
When the work gets under way, it will pick up just a few blocks from where the last streetscape project ended in 1992. That work began in the late 1980s.
Silva credits the sidewalk and infrastructure upgrades made back then in helping boost downtown Franklin's profile at a time when he said it was sorely needed. The work stretched from Five Points to the Harpeth River bridge.
At the time, Main Street wasn't the draw for tourists and businesses that it is today because of its condition, he said.
"It has been 16 years and a lot of the people weren't here when Main Street looked absolutely horrible," Silva said. "It clearly was a cosmetic disaster."
Figures released as part of a report on the project say there's been a $50 million new investment in the area, while occupancy in downtown buildings has risen from 35 percent to 90 percent.
Though the project may have the streetscape moniker, its expenses include improvements to roads and sidewalks that have not been addressed in years.
Citizens can help
Using the Third Avenue North and Fifth Avenue North project as a guide, consultant John Grossman calculates that 50 percent of the work's cost will pay for infrastructure that he defines as curbs, gutters, storm drainage, traffic signals and other basics.
Only 12 percent of the costs would go to the aesthetic items, such as brick pavers, new benches and historic-looking light fixtures.
"In its roots, it's not a beautification project," said Grossman, president of Akron, Ohio-based E.G. & G. Inc. "It's an infrastructure project and we're trying to do it comprehensively so that it can create first-class location."
The project's costs might be offset somewhat if there's greater participation of residents. Silva reiterated his call for private citizens to further help by purchasing ceremonial pavers and benches to save the city from buying those amenities. How much that might raise isn't clear yet, as the prices of those items have not been finalized.
Meanwhile, city leaders are speaking up for the work even as they are faced with a tighter-than-anticipated city budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Alderman Bev Burger says the project's completion helps the city as a whole.
"Not only does it benefit all of Franklin, it benefits our community elsewhere around us as well," Burger said.
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