Tag: Central Parkway Cycle Track

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News Transportation

Ohio Maintains Position As Nation’s 16th Best State for Bicyclists

Bicycle Friendly State Ranking 2015Ohio has maintained its ranking as the 16th best state for bicycling in 2015, according to the League of American Bicyclists. The Buckeye state was previously ranked 16th in 2014, after a big jump from 32nd the previous year. This position places the state as the fourth best in the Midwest, behind just Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.

The ranking is issued after compiling the results of a Bicycle Friendly State questionnaire that is answered by a coordinator in each state, and is based on five criteria: Legislation and Enforcement, Policies and Programs, Infrastructure and Funding, Education and Encouragement, and Evaluation and Planning.

The state scored a total of 45.3 points out of a possible 100, and fared best in terms of its Education and Outreach, but scored lowest in its Evaluation and Planning.

“I’m excited about where Ohio is,” Frank Henson, President of Queen City Bike, told UrbanCincy. He said that he felt that even though Ohio gained in its scoring of points, the reason it did not move higher in the ranking is due to the investments being made elsewhere around the country.

“While Ohio continued to do a lot of great things, especially here in Cincinnati and neighboring communities, other states were ramping up,” Henson said.

Leadership at Queen City Bike believes that Ohio has the potential to move up in next year’s ranking with the possible passage of House Bill 154.

Chuck Smith, Chairman of the Ohio Bicycle Federation, agreed and said that the top two suggestions from the League of American Bicyclists to improve the state’s ranking are both addressed in the bill. The first is a statewide requirement for vehicles to provide three feet of clearance when passing bikes, which is already an ordinance in Cincinnati. The second is a “dead red” law, which would allow all vehicles, including bicycles, to proceed through an intersection if they are not detected by traffic control devices.

“It’s important for cyclists to be legal, but bikes are sometimes outside of the system” Smith said in reference to many traffic control devices that are unable to detect the presence of people riding bikes.

One of the other major items recommended by the League of American Bicyclists is the adoption of a statewide Complete Streets policy – something both state and local officials continue to struggle with all over Ohio.

Julie Walcoff, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager of the Ohio Department of Transportation, said there are several other actions being taken at the state level that could further bolster the state’s national ranking.

“We’re putting together a safety coalition that will encompass advocates, communities around the state, and other organizations that are interested in bicycle and pedestrian safety,” Walcoff told UrbanCincy. “We’ll be using that group to help develop a statewide educational campaign that focuses on road users of all types and on law enforcement.”

In addition, ODOT recently kicked off an initiative to designate proposed US and state bike routes throughout the Ohio, connecting the 17 largest cities in the state. ODOT officials say that these routes will use roads that already have an acceptable level of safety, along with existing paths.

While many have described ODOT as an agency almost entirely focused on highway building, Walcoff says they pride themselves on their working relationships with bicycle advocacy organizations throughout the state. This, she says, can help not only maintain Ohio’s current ranking but help it get even better in the future.

In Columbus, advocacy group Yay Bikes! is working with the city to increase the focus on design and engineering of the street infrastructure. Executive Director Catherine Girves says that to help improve the current situation, they are having engineers budget time each week to ride the streets with their group in order to better understand the needs of those people riding bikes.

Back in Cincinnati, Henson noted the addition of Cincy Red Bike and the Central Parkway protected bike lane – the first of its kind in Ohio – as two key developments over the past year that have helped state’s ranking. Following the Cincinnati’s lead, both Cleveland and Columbus are now planning protected bike lanes of their own.

While much of the focus has been on core cities, Queen City Bike is also working with the Connecting Active Communities Coalition, which is comprised of representatives from nine communities in Cincinnati’s northern suburbs: Blue Ash, Evendale, Glendale, Lockland, Montgomery, Reading, Sharonville, Woodlawn and Wyoming. As of now, this group is working to develop a coordinated network for bicycling and other non-motorized modes of transportation on a multi-jurisdictional level.

Kentucky, meanwhile, ranked as the second worst state in the nation with just 18.3 points. This represented a 0.8 point drop from the previous year.

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Up To Speed

Not building protected bike lanes is a transport policy failure

Not building protected bike lanes is a transport policy failure.

Most cities take a timid approach to building new protected bike lanes. Instead of building out a comprehensive and well-connected network, they go after segments of streets where the introduction of the bike lane will not take a lane of moving traffic or parking away from those driving cars. As it turns out, new research shows that this is a bad approach. More from Streetsblog USA:

Here’s one reason the modern biking boom is great for everyone: more bicycle trips mean fewer car trips, which can mean less congestion for people in cars and buses. But there’s a catch. A recent study shows that when bicycle use rises but cities don’t add bike lanes to put the new bikers in, traffic congestion actually gets worse. In some situations, it gets a lot worse.

If a city doesn’t build bike lanes, then “bikes vs. cars” is actually real. But if a city builds bike lanes, more biking becomes a win-win. Public support for bike infrastructure and programming depends on one crucial concept: that more biking benefits people whether or not they ever ride a bike themselves. Lewis, the Atlanta transportation deputy director, said that’s one big reason it’s important to add bike lanes to busy streets when possible.

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Month in Review

Month in Review – October 2014

Wasson Corridor WalkUrbanCincy readers must be excited about the idea of turning Wasson Way into a multi-modal corridor; that was our most popular story of October by a factor of 2×. Our other top stories included news on bike infrastructure, transit, and a new business opening. Check them out:

  1. City Planners Recommend Transportation Overlay District for Wasson Railroad Corridor
    City planners have completed their land use study of the Wasson Railroad Corridor and have recommended the creation of a Transportation Overlay District to preserve the corridor for both future rail transit and a biking and walking trail.
  2. PHOTOS: Ohio’s First Protected Bike Lane Attracting New Riders to Central Parkway
    Ohio’s first protected bike lane is now complete and is attracting new riders to what was once of the city’s more intimidating and unsafe streets for cyclists.
  3. Can Metro, Megabus Come to Terms on Moving the Intercity Bus Operator Into the Riverfront Transit Center?
    Following yet another move by Megabus, there has been a renewed call by many to permanently move the intercity bus operator into the Riverfront Transit Center underneath Second Street at The Banks.
  4. Collective Espresso to Open Second Location in Northside Later This Fall
    The owners of Over-the-Rhine’s popular Collective Espresso will open up a second location in Cincinnati’s eclectic Northside neighborhood later this fall.
  5. Transit Users Will Need 7 Hours to Commute to ODOT Public Transit Meeting
    The Ohio Department of Transportation is hosting a forum on transit funding and policy, but they’re hosting it in a location not served by transit – making it virtually impossible for transit users to attend.

 

Categories
News Transportation

PHOTOS: Ohio’s First Protected Bike Lane Attracting New Riders to Central Parkway

Central Parkway Protected Bike Lane [Eric Anspach]

As bicycling continues to grow in popularity in Cincinnati, the city has built out more and more bike infrastructure. These new accommodations, including the new protected bike lanes on Central Parkway, are making it safer for bicyclists and are attracting more riders.

The Central Parkway Cycle Track provides a new protected, on-street route for bike travel between downtown and neighborhoods to the north, including Northside, Camp Washington and Clifton.

City transportation planners say that there has been apprehension for many cyclists to ride in high volumes of speedy traffic. This is particularly true for Central Parkway, which officials say was often avoided by many due to the intimidating nature of the street’s design that favored fast-moving automobiles. Since the opening of the Central Parkway Cycle Track, however, city officials say that there has been a substantial increased in bike traffic there.

Bike advocacy groups consider the project to be the first of its kind in Ohio. It stretches approximately about two miles from Elm Street at the edge of downtown to Marshall Avenue in Camp Washington.

The protected lanes differ from other bike lanes recently built in other locations around the city in that they are separated from moving traffic by a painted median several feet wide. To further delineate the two modes of traffic, the median also includes flexible plastic bollards spaced about 15 to 20 feet apart. This separation then pushes on-street parking out away from the curb.

At one point along the parkway, close to Ravine Street, the southbound lane leaves the street to run on a newly constructed path along the sidewalk for several hundred feet in order to allow 24-hour curbside parking. The off-street path is made of concrete dyed in a color intended to resemble brick.

During the heated debate over this design change, many expressed concern that construction of the new pavement could result in the loss of a large number of trees. Fortunately, due to careful planning and design coordination between city planners and representatives from Cincinnati Parks, who have oversight of the city’s landscaped parkways, they were able to preserve many of the trees in this area. According to city officials, only two trees in total were lost due to the lane.

Transportation officials are now working to link these protected bike lanes along Central Parkway with future bike routes along Martin Luther King Drive and on the reconstructed Western Hills Viaduct.

Furthermore, after work on the Interstate 75 reconstruction project near Hopple Street is complete, planners will consider the extension of the protected lanes north to Ludlow Avenue. But first, Mel McVay, senior planner at Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation & Engineering, told UrbanCincy that the first segment needs to be examined first, and additional community feedback will be necessary.

“We need to see how successful the first section is,” McVay explained. “It [the second phase] will depend on what the community wants.”

EDITORIAL NOTE: All 25 photos were taken by Eric Anspach for UrbanCincy in late September 2014.

Categories
Business News

MOVE Coworking Aims to Offer Non-Traditional Workers Healthy, Active Workspace

Coworking Space [Provided]

Ryan Meo and Patrick Hitches will open a coworking space in the Brighton District of Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood later this month. The two are taking a different approach and hoping MOVE Coworking will fare better than its predecessors.

Hitches and Meo describe the concept as an “active collaborative environment” that mixes the traditional shared working space with a fitness training facility. It will be the first of its kind in the region and stands in contrast to the three shuttered coworking spaces – Cincy Coworks, Working Side by Side and The Offices – that came before it.

“We believe living an active, healthy lifestyle helps to spark innovation, creativity and productivity,” Hitches explained. “We know from experience that the integration of hard work and play creates an element of true productivity, creativity and innovation in whatever your work or business may be.”

The business partners say that they believe part of the problem with other coworking spaces is that they essentially recreate a quiet office environment that many independent workers are looking to escape – something new pay-per-minute cafes are also trying to combat. To that end, they say that MOVE Coworking will include communal tables, stand-up desks, hanging hammocks, lounge areas and eventually treadmill desks.

Meo and Hitches come from different non-traditional work backgrounds that they believe will contribute to the success of their new business venture. Hitches has worked as a fitness entrepreneur, splitting time between Washington D.C. and Cincinnati, and Meo has spent his professional career doing web development outsourcing. They also say that, in addition to their non-traditional work backgrounds, they were motivated to make this investment due to all of the positive changes taking place in the city.

“There’s no denying the momentum and excitement of the changing neighborhoods all across downtown Cincinnati,” Hitches said. “I look around at all the architecture that has for so long been underutilized and really can’t believe we’ve waited this long to utilize these unique buildings. To me this is a huge opportunity to snag up one of these spaces to create a vision while cultivating a community of people who are also passionate about the positive changes to the city.”

The two are particularly excited about the historic warehouse building they will be located in, and Hitches, who lives car-free, says that as an avid cyclist he is also thrilled about the new Central Parkway Cycle Track out front.

MOVE Coworking will take up 5,000 square feet of space in the basement of the historic Mohawk Building. In order to get the space into the proper condition and fully outfitted, they say that they have invested somewhere around $100,000.

Those looking to use the coworking space or fitness component will have several options. Hitches says that every coworking package will include a membership to the gym space, but that people can also purchase fitness memberships independent of the coworking space. He also says that a yoga space will be added later this fall, and be inclusive in specific membership packages, while also being sold separately for those who just wish to access the yoga studio.

It will cost $20 for drop-in use of the coworking space, or $199 per month for a three days per week package and $270 per month for full-time 24-hour access. As of now, rates start at $70 per month for those who just wish to get a fitness membership.

“Instinctively I always wanted a place where I could go part-time to do some focused online work outside the gym or coffee shops where I would set up my laptop,” Hitches told UrbanCincy. “I now have a place in D.C. where I can utilize space that allows me to have a network of people outside the fitness professionals who I’m around daily in the training studio.”

With that in mind, Hitches and Meo are now hoping they can attract local entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and young professionals that are in search of an alternative workspace, where they can also surround themselves with other health-minded individuals.

MOVE Coworking will start giving private tours to potential members this week, and will have an official launch party on Wednesday, August 20.