PORTLAND — Almost four years after a master plan was submitted to city councilors, the first phase of work on Franklin Street is moving forward.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, the city will host a public meeting in City Hall Room 24 on a proposed redesign of the Interstate 295 interchange, and intersections where Franklin Street meets Marginal Way and Somerset/Fox streets. Work is expected to begin in 2020.

On Jan. 23, councilors will vote on a joint plan with the Maine Department of Transportation outlining the $5.4 million project and how it will be funded.

Work is estimated to cost the city more than $4.2 million. A Dec. 27, 2018, memo from city Transportation Systems Engineer Jeremiah Bartlett said city funding will come from $50,000 in the current capital improvements budget, $200,000 in next year’s CIP (yet to be approved), and the combination of $4 million in CIP, tax increment finance funds and new transportation impact fees in fiscal year 2021.

MDOT’s $1.2 million plan adds lanes to the I-295 on-ramps, and what Bartlett called “geometric/striping/signal timing modifications” to the traffic signals at the convergence of the I-295 off-ramps.

The city will add third lanes for both directions of Marginal Way at Franklin Street by removing center medians. A new right-turn lane will be added to northbound Franklin Street.

Bartlett said pedestrian and bicycle improvements include a 50-foot-wide crosswalk for the Bayside Trail crossing on Franklin Street, dedicated bicycle lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the road.

The meeting will also detail two additional phases, part of the Franklin Street Feasibility Study Phase II plan presented to councilors in April 2015.

Franklin Street was widened about 50 years ago at the cost of housing and a section of Lincoln Park. The city has yet to address how it might narrow portions from Somerset Street to Cumberland Avenue and Congress to Middle streets.

“The Master Plan outcomes remain on the city’s ‘to do’ list, but the section of Franklin identified for shifting both directions together … is by far the most costly portion of the proposed work,” Bartlett said.

While working at the Franklin Street and Marginal Way intersection, the city will also undertake the long-awaited Back Cove South Storage conduit project now expected to cost at least $24 million.

Public Works Director Chris Branch said an underground storage tank will be installed below the soccer fields near Preble Street.

“We will be selecting a team in the next couple of months, with construction expected to start late this year,” Branch said.

The tank will be connected to a sewer line in the area of Franklin Street and Marginal Way, he added.

The city had planned for the tank to be under Marginal Way. The project bids came in as much as $15 million more than anticipated in 2015.

“The most recent cost for that option was $35 million and would have had significant impact on businesses and traffic in the area,” Branch said.

David Harry can be reached at 780-9092 or dharry@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHarry8.

The first phase of work on Franklin Street in Portland includes redesigning the intersection at Marginal Way, adding lanes to Interstate 295 on-ramps and a separate sewer project.

Portland and the MDOT plan to modify travel lanes and expand a crosswalk in a $5.4 million project along Franklin Street beginning next year.