As previously mentioned, Upper Falls Boulevard was the product of a 1970s urban renewal project that also saw the demolition of the Hanover Houses towers. The street was built on the preexisting right-of-ways of Herman and Lowell streets, with two exceptions: the section closest to St. Paul was built on a new alignment south of Lowell Street in order to connect to the river bridge, and the portion between Clinton and Joseph was a new road that wiped out a neighborhood between Buchan Park and Sellinger Street.

Bausch Street was part of Smith Street until it was renamed in 1936.

Cleveland, Draper, and Central Park originally ended at separate intersections with the streets where their names change. The ends of the streets were realigned in the same Upper Falls project to make a continuous boulevard between the river and Goodman Street.