Hey - perhaps this is good news for Franklin residents! On the council agenda for Tuesday night is Item G.3, which relates to an agreement with Milwaukee County to have the Rawson Avenue median completely landscaped from 51st to just past the area where 60th Street would be located. This was an effort between the City of Franklin, Milwaukee County, and the developers of the Fountains of Franklin master plan to enhance the corridor and make it more attractive for businesses.
The segment for discussion Tuesday evening is a part east of 51st Street, in front of Andy's. Back when the median landscaping was proposed, the owner(s) of Andy's indicated that they, too, would help promote the Rawson business corridor by landscaping the portion of median in front of their gas station. It would seem that if the agreement is still on the books, the portion in front of Andy's will be landscaped at the same time as the median in front of Sendik's, CVS, and the Fountains of Franklin proposal.
Residents have been waiting for this landscaping for many months, and unfortunately will end up waiting a full year until this particular median's vision is realized. I, for one, will look forward to actually driving down Rawson Avenue once the landscaping is completed. Personally, I detest medians that only have grass and weeds growing on it; what a tremendous waste of space considering what other plants and trees can be placed on the median.
All of this reminds me...when will the time come that an agreement is struck with the county, city, and the owners of Orchard View and Franklin Centre to landscape the medians on 76th St? For an area that is frequently called Franklin's "downtown", the "modern" light fixtures are getting kinda old for the times, and simple banners that say "City of Franklin" with the city's symbol is becoming sort-of "blah". If we can work with people at the Fountains of Franklin area, why not in an area that more people utilize and travel to on a regular basis?
Just sayin'.
