Rich and Town streets Corridor Enhancement MEETING TOMORROW!

You are cordially invited to a
community workshop on the
Rich and Town streets
Corridor Enhancement
September 5, 2012, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
435 West State Street
Mayor Michael B. Coleman identified the need for the city of Columbus to lift up and restore Franklinton, the City’s birthplace in 1812, in his 2011 State of the City address. The City is progressing with its plans for revitalizing the historic neighborhood. Part of the initiative is the East Franklinton Plan, which calls for changing traffic operation and adding urban design elements to Rich and Town streets. In conjunction with the Department of Development Division of Planning, the Department of Public Service is working on
implementing the following:
• Converting Rich and Town streets to two-way traffic with on-street parking
• Adding bicycle facilities, signage, streetscape enhancements and street lighting
• Incorporating gateway features next to railroads viaducts on Rich and Town streets
• Conducting workshops for gathering residents’ ideas on aesthetic and gateway features
• Project limits: Rich Street, Town Street, Belle Street, SR 315
Please join representatives from the city’s Division of
Mobility Options and its consulting team on September 5 to
learn more about the project. The meeting will start with a
presentation of the project scope and schedule and include
interactive discussion of ideas, questions and answers. Details and
exhibits illustrating project features will be shared. This is your
opportunity to be part of the project planning effort.
Project Consultant Team:
Resource International, EMH&T, MKSK, PolicyWorks.
RSVP Project Manager
Terry Stewart:
TLStewart@Columbus.gov

Next up:
Community Workshop,
September 19, 2012;

details later.Town and Rich Corridor Enhancements

The Department of Public Service is designing the two-way conversion of Town and Rich Streets in East Franklinton as part of a larger effort to revitalize this important urban neighborhood. This project follows the completion of the East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan. The Town and Rich project also includes enhancements to the railroad bridges that define the eastern gateway and a banner system. The project will involve numerous public engagement opportunities. Project completion is tentatively scheduled for October, 2013.

The draft East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan has been released for public comment by the city of Columbus and can be found here. The plan has been scheduled to be heard by the Franklinton Area Commission on September 11th, afterwards it will be forwarded to the Columbus Development Commission then submitted in October to City Council. Questions can be directed to Mark Dravillas, Neighborhood Planning Manager, at 614-645-6823.

A hardcopy of the draft plan is available for public review at the Franklinton Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library at 1061 W. Town Street.

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In the Spring of 2011 at his State of the City address, Mayor Michael B. Coleman announced a new initiative to attract the creative class to East Franklinton. Numerous individual projects were at the beginning stages or underway, and it was decided that the opportunity was right to tie these projects together and provide added energy to move revitalization along a stronger trajectory.

The East Franklinton Creative Community District Plan is a planning effort with several major components: public engagement to understand the values and interests of the community, as well as the arts community in growing a “creative district”; very detailed market studies to understand fully the residential, retail and office markets and their potential in this district; an urban design approach to guaranteeing reinvestment occurs in an organic fashion commensurate with the grittiness of East Franklinton; and an implementation strategy that brings all parties together to jointly move forward on a common vision.

The city has established a working group with representatives from the Planning, Economic Development and Housing Divisions, Franklinton Development Association, Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority, and developer Urban Smart Growth. The city has hired a multi-disciplinary consulting team being led by Goody Clancy, an urban design and planning firm headquartered in Boston (Goody Clancy has done several plans in Columbus, working with the city on Weinland Park Neighborhood Plan and the University/High Street Plan).

The planning process will be about 12 months in duration and a final plan should be proposed as an amendment to the Franklinton Plan (2003) in the summer of 2012. This website will be used to post numerous documents as the plan unfolds, as well as meeting notices and surveys.