Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) and the City of Bellevue, KY will host a tour of the small Bellevue community along the Ohio River on Friday, July 9 from 9:30am to 12:30pm.
Bellevue has been recognized for its successful preservation techniques that have worked to revitalize the city’s neighborhoods and historic commercial district along Fairfield Avenue. Those attending the tour will have the opportunity to learn about the city’s innovative programs that have gotten it where it is today. Such programs include Bellevue’s local historic district and ongoing form-based code initiative.
The event will take place at the Callahan Community Center (map) and is free and open to the public. CPA is asking that those interested RSVP by calling (513) 721-4506 or emailing info@cincinnatipreservation.org.
UPDATE: Due to timing issues, the tour of Bellevue originally scheduled for Friday, July 9th has been canceled. CPA officials say that the event will be rescheduled for a later date.
In addition to the progressive Bicycle Transportation Program unanimously adopted by Cincinnati City Council last week, Cincinnati policy makers also approved safety ordinance that will be one of the most comprehensive of its kind in the region, and even stricter than what is found in Chicago.
“What this plan really does is not add additional transportation infrastructure,” said Gary Wright, President, Queen City Bike. “It adapts the existing transportation infrastructure to new needs in a cost-effective way.”
The new safety ordinance approved 8-0 by Cincinnati’s City Council requires motorists to maintain a three-foot distance when passing bicyclists. The ordinance also makes driving or parking an automobile in a bike lane illegal, and places extra responsibilities on drivers when opening doors as to avoid endangering bicyclists.
“This bike plan can help turn this into the 21st Century city that we all want it to be, one that can look forward to more streets, shops, cafes, and parks filled with people, where people will want to be,” Wright concluded.
Sources inform UrbanCincy that City Council is poised to approve a lease agreement with MLH Cincinnati USA, LLC to construct and operate the new $4 million Moerlein Lager House located within the Cincinnati Riverfront Park which is currently under construction. The ordinance will go before City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee on Monday, June 28th at 1pm, and then move on to a full council vote on Wednesday, June 30th where it is expected to pass with an overwhelming majority.
The new Moerlein Lager House is the first tenant signed for the new Cincinnati Riverfront Park which will eventually support several restaurant/bar uses. Once complete, the new microbrewery restaurant will brew 5,000 barrels of beer annually, offer brewery tours, and seat 500 inside with another 600 outside in two biergarten areas and a second-level terrace that will boast dramatic views of the new park, Ohio River, and Roebling Suspension Brige.
Christian Moerlein CEO Greg Hardman says that the two biergarten areas have the ability to be connected around the building during special events thus creating one enormous biergarten area.
Details on the lease agreement expected to be approved by the Budget & Finance Committee will be released on Monday, but it is understood that a variety of rent payments will be paid by Christian Moerlein to the Cincinnati Park Board over the course of the lease.
The 15,000 square-foot development is expected to be complete by spring 2012 which is one-year after the projected completion for the first phase of the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.
Officials will break ground on the Greater Cincinnati Firefighter’s Memorial in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, June 29 at 10am. The new memorial will be located along Central Avenue in between 5th and 6th streets on the western edge of downtown.
The Memorial has been in the planning stages and will become a reality thanks to in-kind work from Turner Construction, Baker Concrete Construction, GBBN Architects, and donations from hundreds of individuals from throughout the Cincinnati region.
According to officials, the Greater Cincinnati Firefighter’s Memorial will honor fallen firefighters from 194 fire agencies within the 12-county Cincinnati metropolitan region. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the site of the memorial (map) where a 33,500 square-foot green space will be constructed and include landscaped areas, gardens, a statue and walkways with pavers etched with names of donors to the Memorial.
In a bold effort to make Cincinnati more bicycle friendly and inviting for anyone to ride, the City’s Department of Transportation & Engineering has partnered with Queen City Bike and community members over the last 10 months to develop a Bicycle Transportation Plan that, in part, calls for 330 miles of new dedicated street lanes and 83 miles of off-street bike paths in addition to the 33-mile collection of bike paths that exist presently.
Cincinnati City Council’s Livable Communities Committee will hear these recommendations at their meeting today where a large number of bicycle advocates are expected to appear in support of the plan. The meeting will be held at City Hall (map) at 6pm.
Recent efforts have included the addition of new dedicated bike lanes, sharrows, bicycle racks, on-street bike parking, and a new regulation requiring the inclusion of bicycle parking inside parking garages. Progress also continues to be made on the Ohio River Trail which will eventually tap into the Little Miami Scenic Trail and provide a continuous bicycle route from Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs to downtown Cincinnati where it will terminate at the new Bicycle Commuter Station currently under construction at the Cincinnati Riverfront Park.
In cities like Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Washington D.C., New York City, and San Francisco even more is being done to accommodate bicyclists as the number of those utilizing the carbon-neutral form of transportation continues to rise at a rapid pace.
Such efforts being made in these cities include separated on-street bike lanes, enhanced signage, signal timing, and bike boxes which are all intended to make bicycling safer and more accommodating. As a result, Vancouver has seen a ten fold increase in the number of bicyclists using the Dunsmuir Viaduct since its bicycle improvements were made. Bicycling there also represents the fastest growing form of transportation in Vancouver with more than 60,000 bicycle trips each day.
In May 2010, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls highlighted Portland, OR’s use of bike boxes as a best practice citing that the new bike boxes at intersections throughout Portland help to eliminate dangerous “right hook” collisions. The bike boxes in Portland are colored green boxes on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside that offers a visual clue to motorists to expect bicyclists at the intersection while also positioning bicyclists in front of motorists so that they are not in the motorist’s blind spot.
Those interested in speaking at the Livable Communities Committee meeting tonight are asked to arrive by 5:50pm to fill out a comment card. Free bicycle parking is available at City Hall which can also be accessed by Metro bus service (plan your trip).
Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) and the City of Bellevue, KY will host a tour of the small Bellevue community along the Ohio River on Friday, July 9 from 9:30am to 12:30pm.
