Tag: planning

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Development News Transportation

First Eastern Corridor open house raises additional questions about plan

First proposed in the late 1990’s, the multi-modal Eastern Corridor plan concluded its Tier 1 planning in 2006. After four years of inaction, planning for commuter rail on the Oasis line resumed in May 2010. Tier 2 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and preliminary engineering is currently underway and preferred alternatives will be determined in 2012.

As the plan moves forward, project leaders are holding three community open houses this week to provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about the project and offer feedback at the midpoint of this planning phase. But because there will not be any official decisions concerning track alignment, vehicle type, etc., until 2012, those who attended the April 5 open house at the Leblond Recreation Center on Riverside Drive were frustrated by the inability of planners to answer specific questions.

The primary concern of open house attendees was the proposed use of diesel locomotives. Area residents are familiar with the sound of the line’s periodic freight trains and the Cincinnati Dinner Train, and fear that frequent high-speed diesel commuter train service will significantly impact their neighborhoods. Most expressed that they would be more welcoming to the proposed commuter service if it took the form of electric light rail or modern streetcar technology similar to that of the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar.

Several concerned citizens, including Arn Bortz, Managing Partner of Towne Properties, observed that the Oasis Commuter Rail is designed to serve far eastern Hamilton County and Clermont County to the detriment of those who live in Cincinnati. Thayne Maynard, President of the Cincinnati Zoo, said that he moved to Newtown to be close to the Loveland Bike Trail, and is worried that the Oasis commuter rail might scuttle plans for the Ohio River Trail between Downtown and Lunken Airport.

Planners assured those in attendance that “No Build” is a possible outcome of the Tier 2 work, in which case all of these concerns can be forgotten. But the completion of Tier 2 work will not determine how capital funds are acquired or which local entity will operate the line. The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the most likely operator. With the vast majority of SORTA’s funding coming from a .3% Cincinnati earnings tax, it appears that a special source of revenue will be needed for the Oasis Line as it is expected to terminate near I-275 in Clermont County.

Further complicating the issue, UrbanCincy investigated the Eastern Corridor plan in August 2010 and discovered several significant flaws that have yet to be addressed by project planners.

Two more open houses are scheduled to be held. The first will take place on Wednesday, April 6 at the R.G. Cribbet Recreation Center (map), and the second on Thursday, April 7 inside the Milford High School cafeteria (map). Both open houses will take place from 5pm to 8pm, and will include an open comment/Q&A session beginning at 7pm.

Eastern Corridor Open House photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Ohio’s TRAC prepares for large public turnout, changes rules for Cincinnati Streetcar hearing

On March 23, Ohio’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) was greeted by 32 Cincinnati Streetcar supporters. The residents and business owners went to Columbus to let their voice be heard on the state’s highest-rated transportation project that appeared ready to be gutted by a new administration set to cancel all investments in rail transportation.

The presence of these individuals not only came as a surprise to many on the council, but also made several of the members reconsider the idea of making the state’s highest-rated project shoulder 52 percent of all proposed cuts in a “fiscal balancing” effort.

“The number one rated project is recommended to take the brunt of the cuts…that’s a problem for me,” William Brennan stated at the March 23 meeting.

Other council members, UrbanCincy‘s Jenny Kessler reported, shook their heads in agreement with Brenna as he made the statement. Fellow council member Antoinette Maddox suggested that all new projects be sunsetted, or that cuts be made to lower-ranking projects to avoid such drastic cuts to the state’s highest-rated transportation project.

The public comments and debate made no impact on the TRAC’s recommendation that day as they followed marching orders to cut 100 percent of the Cincinnati Streetcar’s state administered funding.

The results of the meeting, combined with an “unprecedented attack” on the streetcar project from Governor Kasich, lit a fire within many Cincinnatians who have supported the streetcar project for years. Groups began organizing to continue to show the TRAC their support for the project at the upcoming April 12 meeting where they will hold a final vote on the recommendation to strip the Cincinnati Streetcar of $51.8 million.

Anticipating a large turnout for the April 12 public hearing, the TRAC has rewritten its speaking guidelines for such meetings. At the April 12 meeting only, the TRAC has restricted public comment to 40 minutes for the Cincinnati Streetcar project. Opponents will be allotted 10 speaker positions getting two minutes each. Supporters will get only seven positions with two minutes each, plus an additional six minutes for a representative from the City of Cincinnati, totalling 20 minutes.

The TRAC has also stated that Room GA, in which the meeting will be held, will be open to the public beginning at 9am. The council also states that overflow seating will be provided in Room GB if necessary. The meeting is scheduled to start at 10am.

Cincinnati Streetcar supporters photograph by Sherman Cahal.

Categories
Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati region, transit projects take overwhelming brunt of recommended transportation cuts

Ohio’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) met today in Columbus and was greeted by 32 Cincinnati Streetcar supporters, ranging from families to young professionals, small business owners, CEOs and VPs of corporations, and city staff. The council and Ohio Department of Transportation staff members, according to UrbanCincy writer Jenny Kessler who was one of those in attendance, appeared surprised at the turnout.

The TRAC held a working meeting at 10 am with the ODOT staff (as the director of ODOT, Jerry Wright is the chairman of the TRAC) to hear the staff’s drafted recommendations for which projects to cut and keep in the 2011-2015 Major Project List . The result was a recommendation of $98 million in cuts. UrbanCincy research reveals that the way in which those cuts were administered in particularly shocking.

  • 52% of all cuts came from the state’s highest-rated project – The Cincinnati Streetcar – which is positioned to now lose 100% of all funds originally recommended for the project.
  • The Cincinnati region got hit the hardest in Ohio. 82% of all cuts recommended by the TRAC are from the Cincinnati region and account for roughly $80 million.
  • $1 million was taken from upgrades to the Queensgate rail yard that would have relieved freight rail traffic.
  • Two highway projects, from Governor John Kasich‘s (R) district, totalling $7.7 million were added to the TRAC’s listed of recommended funding.
  • Non-highway investments now only make up 26% of the TRAC’s recommended transportation projects in terms of overall funding ($18.2M) and number of projects (4).

Kessler reported that Kasich’s staff advised the TRAC to reallocate $15 million from the Cincinnati Streetcar to a bus corridor project in Canton, and $35 million from the Cincinnati Streetcar to the $3 billion Brent Spence Bridge project. What many transportation experts now seemed to be concerned about is the process in which the TRAC is being advised to cut.

“There is no legitimate reason why the TRAC should cut from the top rather than the bottom,” said All Aboard Ohio executive director Ken Prendergast. “If the TRAC ignores its own scoring process, then I’m not sure why Director Wray urged the TRAC’s creation in 1997 as a useful way to limit political influence on selecting transportation projects for funding.”

Evidently several TRAC members feel the same way. As the meeting progressed, William Brennan verbally expressed concern over the state’s top-rated project shouldering the load.

“The number one rated project is recommended to take the brunt of the cuts…that’s a problem for me,” said the Toledo native. As Brennan made the statement, several other members nodded in agreement including Antoinette Maddox, Raymond DiRossi and Patrick Darrow.

Antoinette Maddox (D), the council’s only woman and African American member, spoke several times and expressed her concern for the extreme cuts made to the streetcar project.
Maddox suggested other options, such as sunsetting all new projects or making cuts to the lower ranked Tier-2 projects. These were shot down by the ODOT staff members.

It was evident to those in attendance that the real detractors to the streetcar project were not the TRAC members who had been working together in 2010, but the newly appointed “asphalt sheriff” Jerry Wray and his staff members, Jennifer Townley and Ed Kagel. Townley, who did most of the speaking during the meeting, cited the reasons for reallocating the streetcar funding to lower ranking projects “due to fiscal balancing.”

What Townley and her colleagues failed to mention was that the TRAC funding in question is federal money being reallocated through state governments. Pulling the money for the streetcar does not help to solve the budget crisis Governor Kasich is facing, it simply moves it around to much less worthy projects. The other members of the TRAC noticed this right away and voiced their concern.

When pressed for more reasons behind cutting streetcar funding for Cincinnati, Townley later replied, “because there is already a bus system in place in Cincinnati that services the same area, we don’t see why rail is really necessary.” If you would like to inform Ms. Townley as to why Cincinnati needs rail as well as a bus system, please drop her an email at Jennifer.Townley@dot.state.oh.us.

The numerous streetcar supporters in attendance were able to submit written statements, but as it was a working session where the TRAC did not make a vote, only listened to recommendations, no citizens were permitted to speak.

The council is scheduled to hold a private conference call that may or may not be legal on Friday, March 25 to discuss the recommendations further before they develop a final list on April 10 and hold a final vote and public hearing on Tuesday, April 12 in Columbus.

The underlying question still exists – if greater emphasis is going to be placed on political patronage and gubernatorial intimidation, then why does the TRAC even exist?

Operations Manager Jenny Kessler contributed to this article.

Categories
Business Development News Politics Transportation

New provision to Ohio transportation budget represents “unprecedented attack” on Cincinnati Streetcar

In an unprecedented action, Ohio Senate Transportation Committee Chair Tom Patton allowed a provision to be introduced to the latest amendment of the state’s biennial transportation budget that would “prohibit state or federal funds appropriated by the state from being used for the Cincinnati streetcar project.”

The action comes on the heels of recent news that newly elected Governor John Kasich (R) plans to strip the project of approximately $52 million in state appropriated funds. Such an action would go directly against the state’s laws and proceedings for appropriating state and federal transportation dollars, and could be subject to legal action from the City of Cincinnati.

“So if you suddenly don’t like the process established by law that has worked well for 14 years under Democrats and Republicans, you change the process,” said Ken Prendergast, executive director of All Aboard Ohio. “This is like saying we didn’t like who won the Super Bowl, so we’re going to re-write the record books.”

Provision SC-0257-1 was approved out of committee Tuesday evening as part of an omnibus amendment, and will then go to the full Senate and House. The omnibus amendment, according to Prendergast, could then either be accepted as is, or be assigned to a conference committee if the House finds the bill substantially different from the version it passed last week that did not include the anti-streetcar provision.

The unprecedented attack against the Cincinnati Streetcar, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) highest-ranking transportation project pending anywhere in the state, further exemplifies the cavalier attitude of the newly elected governor and Ohio General Assembly.

Prendergast notes that the Cincinnati Streetcar was ranked as the state’s top transportation project based on economic development, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact criteria by the Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC), a non-political review board established by state law in 1997. The TRAC, he says, was created, urged in part by then and current ODOT Director Jerry Wray, to remove politics from the state’s transportation project selection process.

Previous actions by the TRAC include unanimous votes in support of the funding appropriations for the $128 million Cincinnati Streetcar project.

“These are not state funds, but state-administered transportation funds. If they don’t go to the streetcar, they will go to a lower-ranking road project,” Prendergast emphasized. “If state officials really want to save taxpayers’ money, they should cut from the bottom-ranked projects, not from the top.”

Prendergast went on to say that in his nearly 30 years of transportation advocacy that he has never seen such a blatant attempt to discriminate against rail projects in such a manner. And he points to a November 2009 vote in Cincinnati that defeated a measure that would have singled out rail projects for public votes by 55 to 45 percent.

“As young Ohioans flee to vibrant cities that offer transportation choices, as Baby Boomers face a future of house arrest without options to cars, and as all Ohioans face immobility from worsening global petroleum constraints, this amendment by the Ohio General Assembly to punish a very specific transportation project is worse than counter-intuitive. It’s downright mean.”

Categories
Development News Transportation

Major projects to transform MLK Drive through Uptown over next 20 years

Three projects planned for MLK promise a dramatic reconfiguration of the three-mile cross-town roadway by 2020. The Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) Millcreek Expressway (I-75) reconstruction and the City of Cincinnati’s West MLK Drive Access Improvement have been funded and will commence construction in 2013. A third project – construction of an interchange at Interstate 71 – is still in preliminary planning stages and is scheduled to be built sometime after 2015.

Eminent domain proceedings are already underway which will see 30 homes and apartment buildings between McMicken Street and Good Samaritan Hospital demolished in 2012 or 2013. A wider and straighter West Martin Luther King Drive is planned to take their place, along with a bike path along the road’s northern edge.

The much larger I-71 interchange project at East Martin Luther King Drive will see many more residential properties taken – possibly more than 100 – in order to build the project’s ramps. Drawings shown at the February 15, 2011 meeting of Cincinnati City Council’s Sub Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure showed the entire shallow valley between Reading Road and Gilbert Avenue north of East Martin Luther King Drive redeveloped by automobile-oriented commercial buildings.

History of Martin Luther King Drive
What is now known as Martin Luther King Drive was created by connecting three existing streets: Dixmyth Ave, St. Clair and Melish Avenue. The St. Clair extension, a six-lane stretch of Martin Luther King Drive between Clifton Avenue and Jefferson Avenue, was built in the early 1960’s. The Melish Avenue Extension between Reading Road and Victory Parkway was built in two phases: a bridge over I-71 built in 1970 and a half-mile stretch between Gilbert Avenue and Victory Parkway mid-decade. The final link – the climb between Dixmyth Avenue near Good Samaritan Hospital – opened in the early 1980’s.

In 1987, Cincinnati city councilman Tyrone Yates led an effort to rename Reading Road after Martin Luther King, Jr. This proposal was rejected on technical grounds and attention was shifted to a 16-mile cross-town path that would have seen the entirety of Westwood Northern Boulevard, Hopple Street, the Hopple Street Viaduct, Dixmyth, St. Clair, Melish, and Madison Rd. to Madisonville renamed for the Civil Rights leader.

This grandiose proposal was scuttled by the great-great grandson of either Casper or James Hopple (reports do not specify), the brothers who came to Cincinnati in 1802 for whom Hopple Street and the viaduct are named.

Plans for a Martin Luther King street were downscaled to the present three-mile stretch between Central Parkway and Victory Parkway, but met more resistance from those who objected to the renaming of St. Clair. An offer was made to rename Central Parkway after General Arthur St. Clair, but no substitute St. Clair designation was made after Martin Luther King Drive came into existence that summer.

The Future of Martin Luther King Drive
The two projects in planning at either end of Martin Luther King Drive do not address the horrendous appearance of the road’s central segment between Jefferson Avenue and Reading Road. Here, no design guidelines were ever put in place, and the quaint residential character of Corryville has been replaced by a confusion of fast food restaurants, gas stations, parking lots, parking garages, telephone poles, and faux-urban apartment complexes.

The burying of utilities is the obvious starting point for any improvement of the area. But a comprehensive plan is needed for properties bordering MLK between Jefferson and Reading in order to assure that the increased traffic introduced by the I-71 interchange motivates higher quality construction.

The if-Houston-had-hills character of Martin Luther King Drive has no doubt negatively affected the ability of the University of Cincinnati to recruit top students and faculty. It is a prime reason why many suburban Cincinnatians prefer trips to new suburban hospitals over the old ones. This situation is the legacy of the WWII and Baby Boomer generations. It might be too late to wish for Martin Luther King Drive to become a showpiece, but young people who profess to care for this city’s future must be vigilant in demanding something better than what we have had handed to them.

Photographs by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.