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Business Development News Transportation

Design Options for $2.7B Brent Spence Bridge Project Narrowed

Planned Brent Spence Bridge Approach

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) for the $2.7 billion Brent Spence Bridge Replacement & Rehabilitation project last August.

The finding means that the project can move forward to its next phase of work with the current proposed alignment, which is not expected to change much from this point. The alignment included in the FONSI includes a number of interesting features different from what exists on the site today.

Consolidated Footprint:
One of the most notable pieces of the plan is a consolidated footprint. While it still includes a web of ramps at the southwestern edge of the central business district, the project does eliminate a flyover ramp currently not in use, and consolidates the existing footprint of ramps leading to the new and existing bridge, and Fort Washington Way.

The approved alignment also preserves the existing dunnhumbyUSA building that was thought to be in the way for the rebuilt interstate network.

A final, and perhaps the most significant, result of the consolidated footprint is additional land along Central Avenue in between Fourth Street and Sixth Street.

This land could be used for one of a number of things, but there is currently the Cincinnati Fire Fighters Memorial at the corner of Fifth Street and Central Avenue, which could be moved south one block across the street from the Company 14 and Fire Headquarters building, and allow for the long-desired expansion of the Duke Energy Convention Center.

Leadership at the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau declined to comment on any plans to expand the convention center until plans are finalized for the Brent Spence Bridge project, and the agency has time to review them.

The alternatives moving forward also call for a portion of historic Longworth Hall to be demolished to make room for the new bridge. Additionally, the existing Duke Energy Substation will need to be relocated, which project officials say has already been discussed with the energy provider.

Brent Spence Bridge Design Alternative 1 Brent Spence Bridge Design Alternative 2
Design Alternative 1 [LEFT] would appear similar to the ‘Big Mac’ Bridge upriver, while Design Alternative 2 [RIGHT] would introduce a two-tower, cable-stayed bridge to the Cincinnati waterfront. Renderings provided.

Architectural Design:
While separate from the issued FONSI, project officials have also narrowed down the design options for the bridge itself. Perhaps the most eye-catching of the options, the single-tower cable-stayed bridge ($646 million), has been eliminated due to its higher safety and engineering risks.

What is left is the arch bridge design ($571 million), similar to the Daniel Carter Beard ‘Big Mac’ Bridge, and the double-tower cable-stayed bridge ($669 million). Both, officials say, would have fewer risks involved and would allow the project to move forward on a more predictable schedule.

Next Stages:
Project officials are currently finalizing action plans based on the Began Value for Money (VfM) study, and hope to begin the necessary right-of-way acquisition process this year.

Should the States of Ohio and Kentucky choose to pursue a public-private partnership (P3) financing model; officials say that they will issue an RFP for that sometime next year. Construction could begin as early as 2015 if the current schedule continues to be met.

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Business News Transportation

Riding Double-Digit Growth, Megabus Adds New Service in Cincinnati

Megabus has added new service between Cincinnati and Lexington, bringing the total number of direct destinations out of Cincinnati to nine (Atlanta, Buffalo, Chattanooga, Chicago, Columbus, Erie, Indianapolis, Knoxville, and Lexington).

The new Lexington service, which runs twice a day with 9am and 9pm departures from the 4th/Race Street Stop, continues the growth of inter-city bus travel out of Cincinnati.

In December 2010, Greyhound Express service was added out of the bus operator’s center city terminal, and Chinatown bus operators have added service since being profiled on UrbanCincy in February 2012.

Cincinnati Megabus
Megabus has seen continued ridership growth in Cincinnati, but may have to soon relocate its downtown stop due to reconstruction of Tower Place Mall. Photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

Megabus itself added a second station in Cincinnati at the University of Cincinnati earlier this year, due to requests from the institution and its riders, and it has bolstered service on other routes through the acquisition of Lakefront Lines in 2008.

“We launched the brand in April 2006, and it was a major and exciting event because we didn’t know how it would go,” explained Mike Alvich, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Megabus.com.

Since its launch seven years ago, routes to Indianapolis and Chicago remain the most popular. Megabus officials also say that the Cincinnati hub has experienced double-digit ridership growth and has served as a critical component of its growing national network.

“Cincinnati has been one of the jewels in our crown since our story began,” Alvich stated.

While Megabus officials would not comment on specific ridership totals, they did note that inter-city bus travel has been growing faster than both intercity rail and air travel in recent years, with Megabus experiencing 30% growth between 2011 and 2012.

Part of the reason, Alvich says, is the fact that inter-city bus travel is now time-competitive and significantly cheaper than air travel and it offers growing cost savings over cars.

Inter-city trains, meanwhile, continue to see a lack of investment and service, even though ridership has grown on that mode at a faster rate than air travel in recent years, and is setting ridership records.

“We consider ourselves to have two real competitors,” Alvich explained. “The first is the car, and the second are people’s concerns that they cannot afford to travel nowadays. As a result, people are staying at home or going somewhere local…so in a way we’re also competing with people’s couches and air conditioners.”

Another factor with the continued growth on inter-city bus service is the different transportation preferences among Millennials and aging Baby Boomers.

For Megabus, the largest share of their customers is people from the ages between 18 and 39. But Alvich notes that some of their fastest-growing demographics are seniors and families.

He also says that approximately 55% of their riders are women, and says that a consistent source of business for Megabus is groups of three to five women going on short weekend trips together.

Additional changes appear imminent for intercity bus operators in Cincinnati, as the Greyhound Bus Terminal is surrounded by the Horseshoe Casino and the main Megabus stop at Fourth/Race will soon become a construction zone. Officials at both companies said that plans have not been agreed upon yet, but that they are tracking the situation and will make changes as necessary.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News Opinion

PHOTOS: A Look Back at Spring in the Queen City

We have had an eventful spring at UrbanCincy. We’ve had our monthly URBANexchange events at Moerlein Lager House, we hosted the 2013 edition of Bikes+Brews, produced original videography and photography, and dozens of original stories.

Our annual Bikes+Brews ride on May 4 attracted our largest crowd yet and we traveled from Findlay Market through Over-the-Rhine, to Nicholson’s Pub in the Central Business District, across the Ohio River to Keystone Bar & Grill in Covington and The Elusive Cow Cafe in Bellevue, and then back across the river to Via Vite at Fountain Square.

Our URBANexchange events, meanwhile, continue to attract people who are new to Cincinnati and those that are interested in getting more involved with the growing urbanist movement in the Queen City. These events are smaller than the Bikes+Brews ride, but they tend to attract one to two dozen people to the biergarten at Moerlein Lager House. Hopefully we’ll see you at the next one on Wednesday, July 10 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm (come and go as you please).

With summer officially beginning this Friday, June 21, I thought it would be a good time to share 28 of my favorite photos from this spring. Enjoy!

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Business News

Craft Beer Series Continues at Findlay Market This Weekend

Elm Street Esplanade

Findlay Market is hosting a monthly craft beer series, focusing on local brewers, this summer at the OTR Biergarten.

The first weekend for the craft beer series took place in May and featured beer from MadTree Brewing Company. The next weekend for the series will occur this June 15-16, and will feature beers from Listerman/Triple Digit.

“Findlay Market is always trying to showcase anything and everything that has to do with ‘local’ Cincinnati,” explained Findlay Market’s public relations intern, Tanner Hinds. “We are a local, non-profit market and most of the business we delve into has some sort of local ties to Cincinnati or Over-the-Rhine.”

Other local brewers to be featured at the Craft Beer Series will include Blank Slate in July, Mt. Carmel in August, and Rivertown in September.

According to Hinds, featured brewers at the Craft Beer Series will be open from 11am to 5pm on Saturdays, and 12pm to 4pm on Sundays when there will also be live music.

In addition to the summer’s Craft Beer Series, the OTR Biergarten is open every weekend at the western entrance to the market house on the Elm Street Esplanade.

Findlay Market officials say that the event will take place every third week of the month until September when the season-long series will wrap up September 21-22.

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Parking Lease Deal to Move Forward Following Appeals Court Ruling

Vandalized Parking Meter in OTR

photo (5)This morning the Hamilton County Court of Appeals released its decision on the court case (Lisa McQueen, et al. vs. Milton R. Dohoney, Jr., et al.) concerning whether the City of Cincinnati had the right to enact emergency ordinance provisions in leasing its parking assets to a third party. The decision from the court struck down a lower court’s ruling and in turn upheld the city’s parking lease ordinance and the right for City Council to enact emergency ordinances.

The decision means that the City of Cincinnati can enact its Parking Modernization & Lease Plan, which was passed by City Council 5-4 in March. The ruling also states that citizens do not have the right to file a referendum on items passed with an emergency clause, thus eliminating the possibility of a public vote on the parking lease deal this November.

Immediately following City Council’s March vote, opponents of the plan filed a taxpayer lawsuit against the plan and Judge Robert Winkler issued a restraining order preventing the city from using the emergency ordinance clause for this issue or any issue before the City of Cincinnati. In this particular case, Judge Winkler’s restraining order was issued within minutes of its vote.

Judge Winkler then heard arguments the following week and made a ruling in early-April that allowed a referendum on the emergency ordinance to move forward by questioning the clarity of the city’s charter provisions on the matter.

In May the Court of Appeals heard arguments from both sides. Today the long-awaited decision was announced. In making its decision the Court of Appeals considered several things.

  1. Whether the Plantiff in the case followed the proper legal procedure in filing for the taxpayer lawsuit. The decision documents state in three separate paragraphs that the plaintiffs failed to make the necessary $325 deposit. “The plaintiffs-relators intimate that they cured the deficiency by paying the $325 deposit after the common pleas court had entered its judgment. But the record certified on appeal does not demonstrate that any deposit was made.” Paragraph 23.
  2. Emergency Ordinances are subject to referendum if provisions are provided within the city’s charter: The city’s charter has language outlining the way the city can pass ordinances and emergency ordinances. It also outlines the provisions for referendums. The charter also defaults to state law provisions for what the charter does not cover. Since there were no provisions in the charter for referendum of emergency ordinances, they cannot be challenged to referendums.
  3. The court found that the Emergency Powers provision was backed up by 90 years of case law. In the 90+ years since the enacting of the city’s charter government, Hamilton County and State level courts have ruled in defense of the city’s emergency powers provisions.
  4. The court found that the city properly outlined the nature of the emergency in enacting the emergency ordinance.
  5. The City’s Charter was not ambiguous. The court took the path of interpreting the charter as a whole instead of the sum of its parts.

The ruling is being considered a major victory for the City of Cincinnati as it is now able to move forward with its Parking Modernization & Lease Plan, which will provide an upfront payment of $92 million and annual installments of $3 million from the Port of Greater Cincinnati Authority.

It also defends a wide array of city actions, that are passed with the emergency ordinance clause, from being subject to public referendums. Over the past several years, a host of decisions made by a plurality of City Council had been subject to what some believe is an inefficient way of running a government.

“While Cincinnatians for Progress did not take a position on the parking lease, we believe that good governance is critical to the city of Cincinnati, and we believe that our representative democracy as outlined in the city’s charter is good governance,” Derek Bauman, Co-Chair for Cincinnatians for Progress, told UrbanCincy. “In addition, it is vital for the city to have the ability to pass ordinances as an emergency when necessary. We welcome the appeals court ruling.”

What has yet to be decided is what will happen with the $92 million upfront payment, which was originally planned to cover the city’s budget gap and provide funding for a host of economic development deals.

Since that time, the City of Cincinnati has passed a budget, which originally was to get $25.8M from the parking lease deal, and found alternative funding sources for a number of the projects ($20M for MLK Interchange, $12M for 4th/Race Apartment Tower) involved in the original list.

The result is a $57.8 million question now put before Mayor Mallory’s Administration and City Council.