Tag: public policy

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Arts & Entertainment News Transportation

Meet OKI Executive Director Mark Policinski at this Month’s URBANexchange

In an effort to better connect you with the region’s land use and transportation decision makers, we are doing something different this month for URBANexchange.

Instead of meeting at the Moerlein Lager House for food, drinks, networking and conversation, we will be meeting at Memorial Hall for the OKI Reveal event.

At this event, the OKI Regional Council of Governments will be sharing the information they have gathered and developed thus far as part of their regional planning process. This past winter, they conducted a survey that asked participants to share their thoughts on how they want the region to grow. The results were decisive with respondents indicating that they want walkable communities that are well-connected by transit.

In addition to being able to share your comments and questions with OKI staff, those who attend OKI Reveal through URBANexchange will be treated to an exclusive meet and greet with OKI executive director Mark Policinski.

The URBANexchange meet and greet with Policinski will take place at the start of the event from about 5pm to 5:30pm. At 5:30pm, those in attendance will then be asked to join in on a group photo out on the steps leading into Memorial Hall.

Following the group photo, those in attendance will head back inside to continue learning about OKI’s regional planning process and hear from Tim Miller about the focus land use areas that have been developed thus far.

There will also be a special farewell tribute for Don Burrell, senior bike planner at OKI for 35 years who has decided to retire. Burrell, over the course of his career, has said that he has put more than 90,000 miles on his bike and is striving for 100,000.

The OKI Reveal event will last until about 7pm, and then those that are still in attendance will head across the street to Washington Park for live jazz out on the oval lawn for their fellow urbanists.

All of this is free and open to the public, but we do encourage you to RSVP online. If you want to meet with the URBANexchange group, we will meet on the sidewalk just in front of the steps leading into Memorial Hall starting at 4:45pm, and then head inside at 5pm.

Memorial Hall is accessible via several Metro bus routes and sits along the first phase of the Cincinnati Streetcar system. Those who bike to the event will be treated to a free bike valet courtesy of Queen City Bike.

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Up To Speed

HOT Lanes Struggle to Raise Revenues

HOT Lanes Struggle to Raise Revenues

Part of the improvements to the Interstate 75 corridor through Cincinnati could include the addition of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. However reports from similar implementations across the country show that HOT lanes are not performing as expected and generating less revenue. These reports may be signs of caution for transportation officials and financiers eager to implement these measures as a way to finance large scale highway projects. More from the Atlantic Cities:

For sure, the lessons of SR-167 may not apply to every new HOT lane across the country, but Gross’s ongoing work does suggest a number of fairly universal takeaways. First things first, state DOTs would be wise to share commuter and traffic data. They should also enter projects with a clear sense of whether they want their express lane to offer congestion relief or generate revenue — and shift toll formulas accordingly. And they should factor a period of driver adjustment into fiscal forecasts.

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Up To Speed

Immigration Can Stabilize City Housing Market

Immigration Can Stabilize City Housing Market

As immigration reform is discussed on the national level, several cities have taken the lead in accepting more immigrants. This has led to an influx of population which have stabilized housing markets in several cities. A few months ago we discussed this issue on the UrbanCincy podcast and examined how the issue is affecting Cincinnati.  More from the Atlantic Cities:

Broadly, this implies that immigrants help boost housing markets, in much the same way that they’ve been shown in the past to shore up aging populations where large numbers of workers are retiring out of the workforce. And they’ve had the greatest impact boosting the housing market in areas that could use it most – specifically, in shrinking Rust Belt cities, or in the deteriorating neighborhoods of major metropolitan areas where it’s elsewhere unaffordable to live.

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Up To Speed

Chicago Improves Protected Bicycle Lanes

Chicago Improves Protected Bicycle Lanes

Although protected bicycle lanes help improve cyclist safety from automobile accidents, Chicago is looking to further reduce conflicts between bicyclists and pedestrians by making some enhancements including traffic lights directed towards cyclists. These are lessons that Cincinnati may be able to implement as the city expands its bicycle network. More from the Chicago Tribune:

From 2006 to 2011, there were 1,140 reported crashes on this part of Dearborn, city records show. Pedestrians and bicyclists were involved in more than half of the accidents that included injuries.

Authorities and bicycling advocates expect accidents will decline on Dearborn and other streets that get protected bike lanes.

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Development News Politics Transportation

City Council Approves $17.4M in Additional Funding for the Cincinnati Streetcar

City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee, which is made up of the full nine-member council, approved two Cincinnati Streetcar-related measures this afternoon at City Hall.

The first was a motion put forth by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C) that directed Mayor Mark Mallory’s (D) administration to provide City Council with an updated timeline and schedule, performance measures, operating plan, assessment of project staffing and personnel, progress reports, and develop a “sustainable funding” plan for the Uptown Connector and Uptown Circulator projects planned to follow.

Cincinnati Streetcar

This measure passed 5-3 with P.G. Sittenfeld (D), Christopher Smitherman (I), and Charlie Winburn (R) voting in opposition. The recently appointed Pamela Thomas (D) abstained from voting on the measure.

“Recent funding challenges have highlighted the need for accountability and greater transparency in this major public infrastructure investment,” the motion read. “City Council must take a greater oversight role to instill public confidence in the management of the project.”

The second item voted upon was to allocate an additional $17.4 million to the first phase of the streetcar project, following an additional $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation through its TIGER program last week.

The additional funding will come from City Manager Milton Dohoney’s recommended plan issued in April. This plan includes the reprogramming of $6.5 million from casino area infrastructure, delaying the contribution of $5.4 million to Music Hall capital funds, reprogramming $400,000 from traffic signal replacement and $500,000 from water main relocation/replacement funds, and issuing $4.6 million in new capital debt.

This measure passed 5-4 with Sittenfeld, Smitherman and Winburn once again voting in opposition, but with Thomas then joining them.

Thomas was considered a swing vote on these issues due to her husband’s pro-streetcar position, who previously filled her seat on council. She spoke to her original support for the streetcar project when it included the Uptown Connector in its first phase, but that her support went away from Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) pulled $52 million from the project.

The vote will not become official until City Council votes on the ordinance this Wednesday at its full session, but it is expected that the same nine-member body will vote as they did today.