Month: March 2009

Categories
News

Cincinnati launches Sharrow Pilot Project

In addition to the new dedicated bike lane on Spring Grove Avenue that will provide a critical north/south travel corridor for bicyclists through the heart of the city, the City has also announced a new pilot project for shared lane markings (sharrows).

Sharrows are widely used but have yet to be embraced in the 32nd ranked state for bicyclists that has no cities included on the bicycle friendly list. They improve the safety for bicyclists on streets that lack dedicate bike lanes. With sharrows, motorists are made more aware of their surroundings making it more difficult to ignore a bicyclist that is properly sharing the road with motorists.

The Cincinnati Sharrow Pilot Project has identified a few corridors that the City believes are good candidates for sharrows and is planned to start this spring. The City is currently asking for input and have put a survey up for people to vote on the top 2 corridors for potential sharrows. You can also email them with additional ideas and other corridor suggestions at sharrows[at]cincinnati-oh[dot]gov.

The City of Cincinnati currently boasts 55 miles of streets designated as bike routes (24 of which include signage), over 200 bicycle racks citywide, with an estimated 63 miles of bike/hike trails in the planning stages all as part of the City’s Bicycle Transportation Program. To request bike rack installation, report potholes, missing signs or any other bicycling related issue you can contact the City by calling (513) 591-6000.

Click to view larger version of flyer
Categories
News Politics Transportation

Bike lanes coming to Spring Grove Avenue

In a press conference yesterday at Cincinnati City Hall, Council Member Greg Harris announced that Spring Grove Avenue would receive two miles of dedicated bike lanes as part of a planned roadway repaving effort set for the spring. The bike lane would connect downtown and the western fringe of the core to Clifton and Northside.

Those who spoke at the press conference included Kathy Holwadel, Chair of Cincinnati’s Bike/PAC, who voiced strong support for the measure. As a regular commuter that takes her along Spring Grove Avenue, she noted that while the road is relatively safe, a dedicated lane would let drivers know that cyclists are part of the road much like an automobile.

Gary Wright, a spokesman for Queen City Bike, stated that the inclusion of the bike lane would be a step in the right direction in making Cincinnati’s neighborhoods and streets livable and green, environmentally friendly and safe. He continued by stating that the bike lanes is a direction that the city and neighborhoods must exploit for the future as a healthy, environmentally friendly transportation alternative to the automobile, confirmed in countless surveys that clearly show that citizens desire methods of transport that do not include a car.

Reactions, to the announcement, have been generally positive. Local transit enthusiast and avid bicyclist Jake Mecklenborg is pleased with the announcement but says the best solution would ultimately be a completely separate bike path divided by a barrier for safety purposes.

Lauren Sullivan, who has spearheaded the nationally acclaimed New Orleans cycling map project (NolaCycle), told UrbanCincy that she supports the lanes because they add visibility to the cyclist, although she noted that dedicated bike lanes were not entirely necessary due to the excessive width and lack of traffic of Spring Grove Avenue. Lauren went on to say that bike lanes should be appropriated on hills where bike and automobile conflicts are more likely, following with cross-town routes. In addition, she voiced comment for the installation of “Share the Road” and other associated bike signage and shared lane striping along Central Parkway, a popular cycling route.

Finally, John Hoebbel, an architecture student at DAAP, said that the inclusion of the bike lane would “enhance the natural connection between downtown and Northside,” adding that the lane is ideal due to Spring Grove Avenue’s relative flatness.

Personally, I am in full support of the bike lane measure, and of similar attempts elsewhere. After having biked Spring Grove Avenue yesterday as part my usual training route, I find that the route is underutilized for both automobiles and cyclists, passing only a handful of trucks and cars and four cyclists. It is also overly wide, and I had no trouble staying within my lane as there is a wide shoulder and parking lane for most of the route. That said, the benefit of physical striping to denote a bike lane and the inclusion of additional lanes in the future, will only benefit cyclists while encouraging more to get out on the bike and enjoy the inherent benefits of cycling.

See below for the press conference:

Categories
News

Book signing series at Findlay Market

Starting this Sunday, March 22nd, Cincinnati’s Edgecliff Press will be holding a weekly book signings at Findlay Market between 1pm and 3pm.

The seven-week long series will give Cincinnatians the opportunity to come to Findlay Market (GoogleMap), purchase and browse interesting books, have them signed and speak with the authors about those books.

Edgecliff Press is a local publishing company that strives to create conversational, casual and thought provoking imagery that evokes emotion, cause one to pause and think. Their mission is to bring affordable books to market that tip the meter between niches of locations, themes and thoughts.

The selected books are artistic in nature with many focusing in on architectural subjects. The series schedule is listed below. All signings are free and open to the public.

The book signing series is part of a larger effort by Findlay Market to become an even greater cultural hub for Cincinnatians. The historic open-air market that opened in 1855 is the oldest surviving municipal market in Ohio and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

Categories
News

2009 Next Leaders Summit coming to Cincinnati

Mayor Mallory has scheduled a 2pm press conference where he will announce that Cincinnati has landed the 6th Annual Next Leaders Summit (formerly called the YP Summit). The convention will be held at the Duke Energy Convention Center downtown and take place during Oktoberfest week – September 17th – 19th.

The Next Leaders Summit is “dedicated to dialogue, experimentation and best practice sharing from within and outside the Young Professionals movement.” The Summit will bring in Young Professionals, and leaders in the YP community, from all over the nation.

The two-day plus conference will provide the next wave of leaders a chance to learn, engage and interact with national and local leaders, and socialize at after hours events throughout Cincinnati. The Summit is sponsored by Next Generation Consulting and hosted by Mayor Mallory’s Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet (YPKC), who had the honor of being awarded the YPO “Best Practices” Award at last year’s Summit in Florida.

In addition to the “Best Practices” Award, Cincinnati also made the list of Best Cities in the U.S. for Next Gen Workers coming in at #7 for cities with populations between 200,000 – 500,000. Columbus, Ohio took the #10 spot for cities with more than 500,000 people.

Partial agenda items for 6th Annual Next Leaders Summit:

  • Learn about their individual leadership strengths, and how to leverage them at work and with their Young Professionals Organization (YPO);
  • Have an immersion course in online and offline community organizing. (How did Obama do it? You’ll learn the techniques and technologies here.)
  • Meet with YPO leaders from similarly sized cities to talk about issues relevant to small, medium and large cities.

Image from YPKC

Categories
Business Development News

Does casino fit for prominent Broadway Commons site?

It was announced last week that there is yet another movement to legalize casino gaming in Ohio. The difference with this proposal is its scope. Instead of a single casino for the entire state, casinos would instead be placed in each of the state’s largest cities (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo).

The intent is to reach a larger market and have broader voter appeal come November. In Cincinnati the proposal has already picked up some high-profile support in Mayor Mark Mallory, City Councilman Jeff Berding and former Mayor Charlie Luken.

The site for the proposed casino is the pipe-dream location that is Broadway Commons (GoogleMap). The site is located in the Pendleton sub-neighborhood of historic Over-the-Rhine. Its close proximity to Downtown, the convention center, several museums, gobs of hotel rooms and major tourism draws like the Reds and Bengals have long made the site a prime spot for redevelopment speculation (streetcar connectivity).

The question is what is right for such a prime location? Seems like a pretty subjective question, and it is. In the 90’s many people (including myself) thought the site would have been a perfect location for the new Reds ballpark. Other ideas have ranged from urban big-box stores, a mega park, rail transit hub and of course the mixed use urban infill that we would all love to see.

Plans for the once proposed ballpark at Broadway Commons

The problem of course has been market reality. With a slew of new condos and apartments constantly coming on the market in Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Newport, Covington and the Westend – can we really absorb more residential units, hotels, office and retail space, if so at what cost? Does it jeopardize the future success in OTR, Downtown and The Banks? Will Cincinnati ever push the rail transit agenda and make light rail, streetcars and high-speed rail reality here, if so can we afford to wait that long to redevelop this major site sitting unproductive?

The owners (Chavez Properties), of Broadway Commons, seem to be ready and willing to sell and they are on board with this casino plan. A casino would turn the giant surface lot into a tax productive use, create hundreds of permanent jobs, significantly boost tax revenues for Cincinnati and Hamilton County and potentially create some spinoff investment in the surrounding community.

At the same time the casino would seemingly prey on those with less, create a handful of social problems for a city that already has its fair share, possibly create an island development that encourages its patrons not to leave the confines and potentially insert an out-of-place building and design into one of the nation’s largest and most important historical districts.

Mixed Use redevelopment plan for Broadway Commons that competed with the ballpark proposal – Source

My preference would be for a rail transit hub with mixed use development. Another ideal scenario would be to develop the site as a high-tech business hub that would capitalize off of the proximity to both Downtown and Uptown with its hospitals and universities. At the same time I do realize the need to develop this site into something productive. So I’m decidedly undecided on the issue. Can anyone sway me one way or another?

If you’re in favor of this proposal feel free to sign the online petition.