Portland Rethinks Naming Street After MLK Due to Dislocation

PORTLAND, Maine - Portland is reconsidering naming a busy thoroughfare after Martin Luther King Jr. amid public concerns that many residents were forced to move 50 years ago to make way for the project.
 
The Portland Press Herald reports that the City Council's Sustainability and Transportation Committee held a public hearing Tuesday evening on renaming Franklin Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
 
All 25 attendees opposed the change except for one. They said it was inappropriate to rename the street after the slain civil rights activist because the project led many families to become dislocated.
 
The four-lane street links Interstate 295 with downtown Portland and the city's waterfront. Roughly 28,000 vehicles travel it every day.
 
The committee recommended creating a task force to come up with a new way to honor King.