Mantua via Streetsboro. SR 43 connects Franklin Township with Interstate 76, approximately to the south via exit 33 in Brimfield and to the Ohio Turnpike/Interstate 80 and the eastern terminus of Interstate 480, approximately to the north via Turnpike exit 187 in Streetsboro. SR 43 is a two lane road in the township and widens to four and five lanes in Kent. SR 59 is a three-lane road before widening to five lanes just east of the junction with State Route 261. State Route 261 passes through the southeastern part of the township as a two-lane highway mainly running north–south before turning to an east–west direction and widening to a four-lane divided highway for a short distance in northern Brimfield Township and southern Kent. It serves as a bypass of Kent between SR 43, SR 59, and Summit Street and connects the township to Tallmadge on the southwest. Public transportation is provided by the Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, known as PARTA, which is headquartered in the township along Summit Road. PARTA serves Franklin Township through a dial-a-ride service, the seasonal Black Squirrel route along SR 59 during Kent State University's Fall and Spring semesters, and the Interurban connecting with Stow and Ravenna. Healthcare Hospital care is provided mainly through Robinson Memorial Hospital. The 150-bed main hospital is located in Ravenna and the system operates additional facilities throughout Portage County. The township is home to one free clinic, Portage Community Health Center, located along State Route 59 in the Joint Economic Development District with Kent. Notable people Although the city of Kent incorporated in 1867 and the village of Brady Lake would follow in 1927, until 1993, the U.S. Census Bureau counted most of the population of Kent and all of Brady Lake as the "incorporated portions" of Franklin Township. As such, the township has produced and been home to a number of notable individuals in varying fields, most of whom are more associated with Kent or Brady Lake. John Davey, a pioneer in tree surgery and founder of the Davey Tree Expert Company moved to Kent/Franklin Township in the 1880s. His son, Martin L. Davey, would later serve as Governor of Ohio and a U.S. Representative. Other political figures to come from Kent/Franklin Township include Wisconsin governor Lucius Fairchild, former U.S. Representative Robert E. Cook, and noted abolitionist John Brown, who lived in the township from 1835 to 1839.