Tag: clifton heights

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News

New Clifton Heights traffic signals improve pedestrian safety

The City of Cincinnati has installed two new stoplights in the Clifton Heights neighborhood directly adjacent to the University of Cincinnati. These lights are located at the intersections of Calhoun & Ohio streets as well as Clifton & College Court (the drive at which the college of DAAP is located).

For now the light at Ohio and Calhoun only blinks yellow and red, but will be changed to a full functioning stop light in the future. The DAAP light is fully functioning and allows for drivers turning left out of College Court onto Clifton to have a safe right-of-way.

The new light on Calhoun (map) comes at a particularly troubling spot for pedestrians. The flat straight-a-way had often encouraged drivers to speed down the street just feet away from pedestrians and bicyclists, many of whom cross back and forth across the street.

As a student attending the College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning I have experienced the perils of attempting to cross Clifton Street during rush hour. It is a busy, four lane road where drivers often drive over the speed limit. Drivers had a tendency to ignore the small yellow pedestrian crosswalk sign swinging high above the street, and more than once I jumped out of the way to avoid a collision. One memorable morning a van screeched to a halt approximately 6 inches from smashing me into pulpy art student pieces. I gave him a piece of my mind, for sure.

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News

Putting our money where our mouth is. Literally.

Some of UrbanCincy’s friends have written about the need to buy local, and we whole-heartedly agree on the merits. It is proven that spending money at a locally owned business keeps more money in the local economy than spending the same amount at a chain. So when the writers of UrbanCincy try to get together for lunch about once per month to catch up and have an informal staff meeting, we have only 1 rule: buy local.

Our last luncheon adventure took us to Chicago Gyros in Clifton Heights because many of us live nearby. Their generous portions definitely filled us up, and the prices were absolutely reasonable. For the 4 of us, our total bill came to something like $35. Because we bought local, almost $16 stayed in the local economy. Had we spent that same amount at, say, Quiznos across the street (don’t get me wrong, I love Quiznos), only about $4.50 would have stayed in the local economy.

Join us in supporting the local economy this holiday season, and all year long, by buying local.

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News

This Week In Soapbox 10/20

This Week in Soapbox (TWIS) you can read about Jean-Robert’s latest restaurant venture, Covington’s new Assistant City Manager, a new innovative funding strategy that will help several center city developments, streetscape and park changes on the way for Clifton Heights, the completion of City Home’s first phase in OTR, and a new authentic Mexican restaurant in Covington.

If you’re interested in staying in touch with some of the latest development news in Cincinnati please check out this week’s stories and sign up for the weekly E-Zine sent out by Soapbox Cincinnati. Also be sure to become a fan of Soapbox on Facebook!

Also be sure to check out the fantastic feature article by Casey Coston on why Issue 9, the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment, is bad news for Cincinnati. See video below for even more Issue 9 coverage.

TWIS 10/20:

  • Jean-Robert’s Table to bring relaxed French cuisine to downtown Cincinnati – full article
  • New innovative funding strategy to help center city developments – full article
  • Covington taps OKI planner as new Assistant City Manager – full article
  • Fresh look on the way for Clifton Heights’ business district – full article
  • Over-the-Rhine leaders celebrate completion of City Home’s first phase – full article
  • Casa Mexico opens in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood – full article

Categories
News Transportation

Signal Timing and Pedestrian/Bicyclist Safety

Signal timing can be a great thing. It can move automobiles and bicyclists more efficiently through the city while also providing for a safer, more predictable traffic patterns for pedestrians. In order to achieve this success and a safe right-of-way for automobiles, bicyclists and pedestrian then this timing needs to be done at the right speed. What is that speed though?

In New Haven, CT they are moving forward with a signal timing project that will keep downtown speeds there between 25 and 30mph. But many Complete Street advocates would argue that 25mph is too fast. Studies have shown that a pedestrian hit at 20mph has a 5 percent chance of death, while a pedestrian hit at 30mph has a 45 percent chance of death. These findings have led to many cities looking towards urban traffic speeds in the 15 to 20mph range (bicyclists travel around the 12mph mark).

Personal experience makes me say that posted speed limits do very little to manage speeds. Signal timing does seem to work out of the appeal avoided stop-and-go traffic. Urban environments, when well designed, also will naturally reduce traffic speeds in most cases. This is a reaction of mental comfort levels for drivers. When there are lots of people around, buildings and other structures close to the street, and plenty of things to observe drivers tend to naturally slow down – self-regulating in a way.

With that said there are streets in Cincinnati that are in need of reduced traffic speeds. Aside from the typical residential streets that people always seem to clamor for lower speeds, what streets would you like to see made safer for bicyclists and pedestrians by reducing traffic speeds? My top pick would be the Calhoun/McMillan network. The parallel streets are complimentary of one another and both have large pedestrian and bicyclist volumes. Due to their straight orientation, one-way traffic flow, limited traffic-calming designs, and lack of a completely built out urban streetscape the speeds are very high and very unsafe for anyone other than automobile drivers.

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News

DAAP Works Dance Party at Baba Budan’s

On Thursday, May 28th you can come out and support the graduating DAAP students at the DAAP Works Dance Party (9:30pm to 2:30am) being held at Baba Budan’s in Clifton Heights.

DAAP Works is the annual, end-of-year exhibition from graduating students at the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. The exhibition regularly draws attendees from around the country and illustrates the final works of that year’s graduating class.

Works from the fields of Architecture, Art Education, Community Planning, Digital Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design and Urban Planning are all on display. Many of the programs are highly ranked nationally and internationally acclaimed.

The DAAP Works Dance Party will raise money for the graduating Urban Planning students’ (including me!) DAAP Works displays.

The Sleeping Sea will be performing, at the party, at 10pm with DJ music the rest of the night. Drink specials include $3 Long Islands, $3 Coronas, $1 PBR, $2.25 Dos Equis and $3.25 Rome’s Homemade Sangria plus the regular assortment of drinks available at Baba Budan’s (GoogleMap).