PAlexander

^Agreed. Plus, what should be happening first is all new construction within 3 blocks of either side of the streetcar should be without parking, and empty parking lots in that area should get built on as soon as possible. The problem with the focus on Phase 2 is the same as it has always been- people can't imagine the future without seeing it first. That's why those trips to Portland were organized. There's much less animosity to the streetcar now that it exist. The thing that is needed next is people seeing, "Oh, the densities that are so charming in other cities that I might visit, like New York, or Paris, or even a small European city like Florence, are achievable here so long as there is a good public transit network." The route to Clifton is less important than increasing density around the existing line.

Thanks for the answer. It's hard to tell from the maps. It seemed like that part of the route wasn't getting close to even small downtowns like Mansfield and a more easternly orientation would service more small cities. But I understand the access for ridership tradeoffs.

This is really the problem. Partly because of the Cranley administration, but honestly I don't think some of the Streetcar's biggest advocates on council even really have this down. There should have been and should be a concentrated effort at densifying the route. That means new construction without any parking. I'm sorry but there's no getting around it. The biggest disappointment to me regarding the streetcar is that new development of single family residences on the west side of Elm Street north of 15th Street (or thereabouts). Such a missed opportunity for dense housing that would be streetcar focused. The route had been known for over a decade. There's simply no excuse for allowing the same car dependent development anywhere near the route. The only parking within three blocks of the streetcar should be parking facilities that are city owned.

Sorry to jump in here, but I was just curious why the north central part of the 3C corridor route was chosen, rather than a different more eastern orientation from Columbus to Cleveland. Does anyone know?

Not just this but the conversion of parking lots along the present line (and there are plenty) would do much to increase ridership. The biggest key to the success of the streetcar is new construction that doesn't have dedicated parking.

I wonder how much the project would cost if they didn't have to connect it to I-75?

^Seems like this would be a relatively easy fix. I'm sure the present system works well, but there's something about making the major downtown bus depot a place where it is is immediately adjacent to the streetcar and a huge parking garage that would be a great way to get people to really begin to understand how all these things tie together.

I only knew about Old Red Bank because I remember when it used to connect. I didn't even know about Hetzel street. Yeah, your plan is far superior to what they are actually doing.

I'm talking about the part of Red Bank Road (old Red Bank) that is south-southeast of the MedPace building. It's not a solution to the problem, it's just designed to give the MedPace people who are going south or south east an alternate route, even if just for a bit. Would have cost a lot less than $7 million. But anyone going north onto the highway is going to stuck regardless because of the design of the the highway access ramp.

Trust me, I'm traveling through those intersections at those times. You're right, the back-ups are basically going to happen, given the topography. My problem with this "fix" is that it doesn't really do anything. You avoid the Madison & Red Bank Expressway intersection but still have to go through the Duck Creek and Red Bank Expressway intersection. In my opinion, if they just re-connected Old Red Bank, it would do a similar thing but cheaper. There's really no fix that's going to get MedPace people who are trying to get onto 71 without going through that bottleneck. But if you reconnected Red Bank Road so that the Med Pace people going south go avoid Red Bank Expressway til they got to Brotherton, you'd at least be adding a route that would people off of Red Bank Expressway for a bit. It would certainly have cost less than $7 million.

I'm pretty sure there are strict rules on what CPS can do with their properties, and that they can't just sell it to the highest bidder or developer. Regardless, this project should have simply been killed. This will have little to no effect reducing traffic congestion there. I actually think it is likely to increase it. What causes traffic problems in the area in the first place is the fact that there is essentially no alternate routes to take. You can basically just go on Red Bank Expressway and Madison Road. The first point anyone can get off those main roads and onto another route is Stewart. They should have just reconnected old Red Bank Road both from Madison to Duck Creek and, more importantly, in the area next to MedPace. That way people could leave MedPace without having to even get through that intersection. It would have had the additional benefit of having to move that UDF, which I realize is in a prominent location but is a problem for all the people who are entering and exiting the gas station right at that interseciton.

This is such a waste of money.

I think the biggest concern regarding the streetcar's success isn't internet commentary, but rather that we've gone about as far as we can with dumb luck. It sounds harsh to say, but this project is one of the best there is nationwide in part because, even though there wasn't a central authority overseeing everything, the way it worked out (and I recognize that many of the people involved were aware of this and that it was part of the plan) with the Findlay Market rebuild by the City in the early 2000s at the northern end of the line; the Banks redevelopment starting in earnest in the mid to late 2000s at the southern end of the line; and the Washington Park redevelopment (finished early 2010s) holding the middle of the line together. Findlay Market was the City, the Banks a joint City/County development, and Washington Park was 3CDC. Anyway, I'm less concerned about taking the system up the hill than I am about the City not leading small development to enhance the present system- I'm mostly talking about making sure surface parking lots adjacent to the system start getting developed, and without additional parking. Getting more people onto the system by removing structural incentives for car use, while at the same time increasing structural preferences for more people to live within the streetcars range, and for those people to use the streetcar, coupled with buses and redbike (and perhaps cabs/Uber) as their primary method of transportation, should really be what we are focused on.

^This is really over the top. Come on.