Franklin, MA Developments

kingofsheeba · Jul 2, 2022

Because why not? New Condos off of 140

Hilton Hotel progress off of King Street

mass88 · Jul 3, 2022

I believe the last picture is of a now stalled hotel.

Franklin has seen a number of larger scale housing developments built in the last several years.

kingofsheeba · Jul 4, 2022

mass88 said:
I believe the last picture is of a now stalled hotel.

Franklin has seen a number of larger scale housing developments built in the last several years.

Yes to all

themissinglink · Sep 18, 2024

7 Investigates: Sidewalk Scuffle - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

FRANKLIN, MASS. (WHDH) - Families in a Franklin neighborhood are claiming the town has put their kids in danger by getting rid of some of<a class="excerpt-read-more" href="https://whdh.com/7-investigates/7-investigates-sidewalk-scuffle/">Read More</a>

whdh.com

When the town repaved the road, they only replaced the sidewalk on one side of the street. As you get farther up the hill, the sidewalk disappears on both sides. Those who live in the area want to know why.

“It just completely stops and it’s just kind of a bizarre transition,” Bertoldi said. “For us it’s really just a safety issue, but I think there’s also potential of lowering property values.” 7 Investigates discovered that Richard Lane should have sidewalks, as town regulations require them on at least one side of every residential road.

“We don’t necessarily have to abide by that. What I mean by that is you can go out and there are so many roads in town that do not have sidewalks for various reasons,” said Brutus Cantoreggi, director of the Franklin Department of Public Works.

When asked why the town doesn’t put in a sidewalk on just one side, Cantoreggi cited limited funding. Cantoreggi said skipping the sidewalks has saved the town a lot of money.

“A rough estimate is $1.3 million per mile for a sidewalk — just the sidewalk, never mind the whole roadway,” he said. “We try to spend funds where the most people get the biggest bang for their tax dollars.” But the taxpayers on Richard Lane feel like they got short-changed.

“The poles are in the right spot, there’s room for it, and again, we’re not even asking for it on both sides. One side is acceptable to us,” Bertoldi said. “If we are owed a sidewalk, we should get a sidewalk.”Frustrated residents have started a petition to restore the sidewalk, but so far, the town is not budging.

This sidewalk dispute is occurring in a neighborhood I spent a lot of time in growing up. A family member of mine has lived on an adjoining street since 1959. The street that now lacks sidewalks (Richard Lane) is a small residential street that dead ends at a cul-de-sac. It's a small street, but kids love to play there because the street is sloped and curved (it's fun to skateboard and ride bikes down the hill). There's also an elementary school within walking distance of this neighborhood. There were sidewalks on both sides of the street for 40 years, but now there's no sidewalk on either side of the street. Other streets nearby (Eldon Drive, Janie Avenue, Schofield Drive) went from having sidewalks on both sides to having a single sidewalk on one side. It's not a large or busy neighborhood by any means, but it's still jarring and disappointing to see a street go from sidewalks on both sides to no sidewalks at all. Suburban towns don't usually take sidewalks or pedestrian safety seriously, but Franklin used to be good at building sidewalks. Several streets in Franklin got new sidewalks on both sides of the street in the '90s and early aughts. But apparently, pedestrian safety isn't a priority in Franklin anymore like it seemingly was just a few decades ago.