Transportation

Standing Room Only Crowd Packed Metropolis & Mobility Event

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On Friday, April 19, UrbanCincy partnered with the Niehoff Urban Studio and hosted an event that showcased student work and included expert analysis and discussion of urban mobility issues in Cincinnati.

Approximately 100 people showed up to the collaborative studio space in Corryville to view the student work, and learn more about the challenges facing Cincinnati today and in the future.

Metropolis & Mobility: Bus Rapid Transit and Bikeway Planning focused on five proposed bus rapid transit and three bikeway corridors throughout Cincinnati. Engineering and planning students were paired together in groups to examine the issues and propose implementation strategies for those potential projects.

Students examining bus rapid transit focused on the Reading Road, Downtown, Hamilton Avenue, Vine Street, and Montgomery Road corridors. The students studying bikeway planning, meanwhile, examined the Wasson Way and Western Riverfront Trail and Mill Creek Greenway.

The event also included an expert panel discussion between Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) CEO Terry Garcia Crews, Parsons Brinckerhoff senior transportation planner Tim Reynolds, and Cincinnati Bike Center general manager Jared Arter.

Those interested in listening to the panel discussion can do so by streaming it online, or by subscribing to The UrbanCincy Podcast on iTunes and downloading episode 19.

One of the student proposals was to activate the Riverfront Transit Center and utilize it as a station for BRT and commuter express routes. Just four days after the Metropolis & Mobility event, the Business Courier reported that Metro was interested in doing just that.

Those who attended the event were also able to vote on their favorite project, which will then be profiled right here on UrbanCincy.com in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please enjoy the video put together on the Metropolis & Mobility event by our contributing videographer Andrew Stahlke.

Start Off National Bike Month With 2013 Bikes+Brews Ride

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UrbanCincy is proud to bring back the popular Bikes+Brews ride to help kick off National Bike Month in Cincinnati on Saturday, May 4.

In addition to Bikes+Brews, Cincinnati’s celebration of Bike Month will include dozens of events over the course of the month. Some will focus on teaching people how to maintain and care for their bikes, others will introduce people to biking, and others will look to celebrate the form of transportation through fun activities and events that enhance the experience of existing bicyclists.

As is tradition with the Bikes+Brews ride, the ride will start at the OTR Biergarten and then continue on throughout the center city. This year’s ride will include five stops along a nine-mile route traversing Over-the-Rhine, Downtown, Covington, Newport, and Bellevue before returning to Findlay Market.

The route is fairly level, and should be doable for cyclists of all ages and abilities.

After taking off from the OTR Biergarten at 12pm, riders will head south to the Moerlein Lager House and then across the Roebling Suspension Bridge to Keystone Bar & Grill in Covington. Following that, the group will head east to The Elusive Cow Cafe in Bellevue, then double-back and head north across the Ohio River via the Purple People Bridge.

Once back in Ohio we will stop at Rock Bottom Brewery on Fountain Square, then head north to Mayberry Gastropub before concluding the ride back at Findlay Market at Market Wines.

Those interested in joining the group mid-ride are welcome to do so, and will be able to track the group’s progress by following #bikebrews or @UrbanCincy on Twitter.

Those who do not have their own bike can rent one from the Cincinnati Bike Center (near our first stop on the ride) for the day for $25.

The 2013 Bikes+Brews ride is free and open to anyone who would like to participate, and will take off from the OTR Biergarten around 12pm. The ride is expected to conclude back at Market Wines around 5pm.

Special Streetcar Meeting Called by Roxanne Qualls in Light of Funding Issues

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On Tuesday, City Manager Milton Dohoney sent a memo to council members that said after a thorough review of the bid process, construction of the streetcar tracks, electrical equipment, and maintenance facility will cost $17 million more than the city had budgeted. This news raises the total cost of the project from $110 million to approximately $127 million.

As a result Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C), Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, has called a special meeting April 29 at 6pm. Dohoney will report on the costs of cancelling Cincinnati’s streetcar project, which broke ground in 2012.

Utility relocation work has been underway for more than a year, and fabrication of five streetcars began at CAF’s facility in Zaragoza, Spain in early 2013. The City of Cincinnati reports that $20.3 million has been spent on the streetcar project to date.

Ohio TRAC
Two failed ballot initiatives meant to kill the Cincinnati Streetcar, and the revocation of $51.8M from TRAC have delayed temporarily set back the project for years. Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

So far Cincinnati’s streetcar has been the recipient of three federal grants totaling $39.9 million dollars. If the project is cancelled, the city will likely have to reimburse the federal government for whatever grant funds have been spent. Additionally, it will either need to cancel its contract with CAF or sell the five streetcars to another city after they are completed in 2014.

Planning for the streetcar project began in late 2006. A study was completed in 2007 and funding was assembled in 2008. On the cusp of groundbreaking, COAST, the notorious local anti-tax group, mounted a petition drive that saw an anti-streetcar charter amendment placed on the November 2009 ballot. Issue 9 was defeated, but it succeeded in delaying the project by a year.

During that same election, John Kasich (R) was elected governor of Ohio. He immediately cancelled Ohio’s 3C Passenger Rail project, scuttled state funding for new express Metro routes funded under outgoing Governor Ted Strickland (D), and appointed Jerry Wray chair of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).

In April 2011, the Transit Review Advisory Committee (TRAC), also chaired by Wray, cancelled $51.8 million in state for Cincinnati’s streetcar project and directed the funds to railroad overpass projects in rural Ohio.

Without its largest grant, a connection to the University of Cincinnati was removed from the project’s first phase.

Sensing weakness, COAST mounted another petition drive and again succeeded in placing an anti-streetcar charter amendment on the ballot. Issue 48 was defeated but succeeded in delaying the project for another full year.

In that same election, all incumbent Republicans, with the exception of Charlie Winburn, were swept from council and replaced by a 6-3 pro-streetcar majority. The project broke ground in February 2012 but the track, electrical, and car barn contract was delayed by litigation between the City and Duke Energy.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) ruled in the city’s favor in late 2012 and the project was put out to bid in February 2013.

Bids came in significantly higher than the city budgeted, and on April 29 council will hear the cost of cancelling the project verses continuing with the project as planned, presumably after voting to sell $17 million more in bonds.

After this rise in the project’s cost from $110 million to $127 million, annual debt service paid from the city’s capital fund will be approximately $4 million. Operations costs, paid from the operations general fund, will be about $3 million.

The $7 million annual cost to operate the streetcar system will consume less than 2% of the city’s annual $400 million budget.

Metro Seeking Public Feedback on Proposed City-Wide Bus Enhancements

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Following a year of ridership growth, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) will roll out a series of improvements to its Metro bus service this year. Agency officials say that the improvements will be rolled out in two phases.

The first round will go into effect this August and will include significant service enhancements at the new Glenway Crossing Transit Center on the west side.

A new Route 32 will provide all-day service between Price Hill and Downtown, a modified Route 64 will connect Westwood with retail on Ferguson Road and the transit center, and new connections will be offered to Route 38X to Uptown and Route 77X to Delhi. Additional service will also be added to Route 19 along Colerain Avenue and Route 33 along Glenway Avenue.

Metro Plus Bus
New Metro*Plus buses were revealed to the public this week, and will be in operation by August. Image provided.

New direct crosstown services, from the Glenway Crossing Transit Center, will take riders to Oakley via the new Mercy Health West Hospital on Route 41, and to the new Uptown Transit District and onto Hyde Park via Route 51.

The transit agency will also begin operating the new pre-bus rapid transit (BRT) service, called Metro*Plus, between Kenwood and the Uptown Transit District this August.

Officials envision Metro*Plus as offering faster service through fewer stops and enhanced visibility through uniquely designed buses and more robust bus stops. The service will initially connect Uptown with the Kenwood area via Montgomery Road, but will be judged for consideration along another six corridors throughout the region.

Attend our free event this Friday from 5pm to 7:30pm at the Niehoff Studio in Corryville on bus rapid transit and bikeway planning that will include an expert panel discussion and open house.

The improvements are a result of SORTA’s 2012 planning efforts, and will be reviewed to determine whether or not the changes should stay in effect.

“Last year, we listened to the community’s suggestions and, as a result, are proposing a number of service changes to better meet our customers’ needs and attract new riders,” Terry Garcia Crews, Metro CEO, stated in a prepared release. “We’re ready to go forward with improvements that will make Metro more efficient, more convenient, and easier to ride.”

Potential Cincinnati BRT Corridors

Officials say that the second round of enhancements will be rolled out this December and will include added service to Route 20 along Winton Road, Route 78 along Vine Street, Route 31 crosstown service, Route 43 along Reading Road, and faster service on Route 1 between the Museum Center and Eden Park.

It is also expected that the four transit boarding areas, that form the $6.9 million Uptown Transit District, will also be complete by the end of the year, and taking on the additional service to the region’s second largest employment center, and one of the city’s fastest growing population centers.

SORTA officials emphasize that the changes are all short-term in nature, and that they would like public feedback on the adjustments. Officials also state that the improvements are being made within Metro’s 2013 operating budget, and will not require fare increases.

Metro will host a public meeting on Wednesday, May 1 from 8am to 5:30pm at the Duke Energy Convention Center (South Meeting Room 232). Officials say that visitors can come anytime during those hours, and that presentations will be offered every hour on the hour.

Comments can also be submitted online, by email at routecomments@go-metro.com, fax at (513) 632-9202, or mail to 602 Main Street, Suite 1100, Cincinnati, OH 45202. The deadline for public comments is May 1, 2013.

Expert Panel to Discuss Bus Rapid Transit, Bikeway Planning in Cincinnati on 4/19

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The Cincinnati region is rethinking the way it moves people and goods throughout the region with major investments and studies taking place on bus rapid transit, bikeways, and multi-modal corridors. The Cincinnati region will evolve, for better or worse, depending on how these investments are planned.

To help further this discussion, we are proud to announce a new partnership between the Niehoff Urban Studio and UrbanCincy that will focus on the work produced by students at the interdisciplinary design center.

The exhibits produced by the students will be judged by those in attendance at the planned semi-annual events, and followed by an expert panel discussion. The best student project will then be profiled on UrbanCincy.

Metropolis & Mobility: Bus Rapid Transit and Bikeways

The first event of the new partnership, Metropolis & Mobility: Bus Rapid Transit and Bikeways, will take place on Friday, April 19, and will include discussion about how multi-modal transportation concepts can be applied throughout Cincinnati.

The expert panel will include Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority CEO Terry Garcia-Crews, Cincinnati Bike Center manager Jared Arter, and Parsons Brinckerhoff transportation planner Tim Reynolds.

“Bus rapid transit is a new form of urban transport, already in place in many American cities that can be modeled for Cincinnati to put us one step closer to a much-needed rapid regional transit system,” explained Niehoff Urban Studio director Frank Russell.

Russell goes on to say that the discussion regarding bikeway planning will focus on three new proposals for the Mill Creek Greenway, Western Riverfront Trail, and the Wasson Way.

The event is free and open to the public, and will include an open house session from 5pm to 6pm where visitors can view the student exhibits and mingle with the panel, and the panel discussion itself from 6pm to 7:30pm.

There will be a cash bar and complimentary light snacks provided for those in attendance.

The Niehoff Urban Studio is located at 2728 Vine Street in Corryville. The event is easily accessible via Metro bus service, and $1 parking will be available at the 2704 parking structure accessible from Vine Street.

Cincinnati Proposes Eliminating Parking Requirements in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine

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The City of Cincinnati will hold a public conference this evening about proposed amendment to the zoning code that would deregulate parking requirements throughout the center city.

According to city officials, the amendment would create new ‘Urban Parking Districts’ and remove the current regulations that mandate how many parking spaces must be provided for any new development or for any project that is modifying the use of an existing structure.

The efforts to get rid of the parking requirements throughout the center city have been ongoing for years.

In June 2010, city officials moved forward with new legislation that allowed for a 50% parking reduction for residences located within 600 feet of a streetcar stop. Then in March 2012, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C) introduced a motion, which was co-sponsored by six other council members, to eliminate all parking requirements throughout the Central Business District and Over-the-Rhine.

Over-the-Rhine
Over-the-Rhine’s existing historic fabric is at risk of further demolitions, due to current parking requirements, as investment continues to pour into the neighborhood. Photograph by Randy Simes for UrbanCincy.

Last March, UrbanCincy examined just how these off-street parking mandates are stifling growth and investment in the center city, which was largely built before the advent of the automobile. The requirements have led to not only increased costs for small businesses, but they have also led to an excess of parking in these neighborhoods.

The parking regulations also make it particularly difficult to redevelop smaller historic buildings like the ones found throughout Over-the-Rhine.

“Requiring parking for historic structures that have never had parking is incentivizing their demolition. This puts the property owner in a really difficult position; he must either find parking for the building, demolish it or let it languish in perpetuity.” Nashville city planner, Joni Priest, told UrbanCincy last March. “If a property owner wants to rehab an historic building – a building that marks the character of a neighborhood and contributes to the fabric of the city – all incentives, including the elimination of parking requirements, should be considered.”

Parking requirements have also contributed to the increased costs of redevelopment in these historic neighborhoods.

Last April, Chad Munitz, Executive Vice President of Development and Operations of the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), estimated that existing parking mandates cost developers, on average, $5,000 for one surface parking space and $25,000 for a structured parking space. The increased cost associated with that parking, Munitz says, is then passed on to the consumer and raises the price of a residential unit by as much as $25,000.

The City of Cincinnati’s Planning & Buildings Department will host the public conference this evening at 5:30pm at Two Centennial Plaza, which is located at 805 Central Avenue downtown, and is well-served by a number of Metro bus routes (plan your trip). City officials say that the meeting will take place on the 7th floor, Suite 720 in the Martin Griesel Room A.

Ohio Fails to Show Improvement in Latest Infrastructure Report Card

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We take for granted that bridges, roads, highways, water treatment facilities and dams will function as expected and take us to where we need to go. But our nation’s aging infrastructure has long been in decline as money is diverted from maintenance to construction of new projects, many times for politicians eager for the photo op of a ribbon cutting event.

Recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its latest report on the current state of the nation’s infrastructure. The last such report, issued in 2009, had given the country a rating of D. This year’s report showed the nation’s rating had improved to a D+ grade.

“Our country’s association of civil engineers continues to do the yeoman’s work of sounding the alarm on our country’s infrastructure — the roads, rails and waterways that we depend on to move our goods from place to place and get us where we need to go each day,” James Corless, Director of Transportation For America (T4A), stated in a prepared release.

I-75 Reconstruction
Work on the multi-billion dollar repair and widening of I-75 through Cincinnati proceeds, but the project still has yet to receive the full funding it needs to be completed. Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

As the nation sifts through a backlog of infrastructure replacement projects, national policy has shifted away from funding such critical infrastructure needs as budgetary concerns linger.

The current transportation bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21), offers no new funding for investments in transportation alternatives to relieve congested corridors or encourage smart solutions to these complex problems.

“It’s a sad reality that little has changed since the last report card in 2009,” Corless continued. “Has anything in Washington changed to drastically improve the condition of our roads, bridges and transit systems in the four years since?”

Without new revenue sources, Corless says, the funding problem is only poised to get worse as revenues continue to decline from the federal gas tax, which has not been raised since 1993. Such a lack of necessary revenues may soon leave the federal government unable to perform basic infrastructure maintenance.

Local Implications?
In both 2009 and 2013, the ASCE gave Ohio a C- grade in their infrastructure report card. While the grade places Ohio ahead of the national average, it still translates to 2,462 structurally deficient bridges and approximately 42% of its roadways in “poor” or “mediocre” quality.

While the State of Ohio raised its gas tax in 2006, the extra revenues have not been enough to keep pace with the demand for larger transportation projects like the expansion of I-75 through Cincinnati, the  Brent Spence Bridge project, and the long-planned MLK Interchange project, which all currently stand unfunded or only partially funded.

“Some other states aren’t waiting for billions that are unlikely to come and are thinking about ways to make their dollars do more. Like Massachusetts, where the DOT director issued a goal of tripling the number of trips taken by foot, bike and public transportation — reducing the load on roads and bridges that are among the oldest in the country,” explained Stephen Lee Davis, T4A’s Deputy Communications Director.

Ohio Infrastructure

The City of Cincinnati has been working towards improving some of its worst-rated infrastructure since the last report card was issued in 2009. Since that time, Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) has performed a $22 million rehabilitation of the W. Eighth Street Viaduct and is in the midst of a $55 million replacement of the Waldvogel Viaduct which connects the west side with the center city via the Sixth Street Expressway.

Additionally, Cincinnati’s 3,500-foot-long Western Hills Viaduct also is considered structurally deficient. Replacing a span that is nearly twice as long as the longest Ohio River span, and crosses the Midwest’s second busiest rail yard, will be one that is both difficult and costly.

Cincinnati officials say that they are currently studying whether a rehabilitation of the existing 82-year-old, double-decker viaduct or a replacement will be more appropriate.

“That is one of those kind of icons in the Mill Creek Valley that you like to look at,” noted Michael Moore, Cincinnati’s DOTE Director, on The UrbanCincy Podcast. “But we will need to be very cognizant of how we spend the public’s money in making sure we have a good safe mode to get across that area.”

Moore says that the department hopes to wrap up the study on how to fix the Western Hills Viaduct early this spring. Once that is complete, he says that there will be a good idea on how to accomplish that. Where the funding might come for such a large project, however, is still up in the air.