thebillshark

I think the McMillan/Taft underpass idea is interesting if a large or complex station is needed at University Plaza. On my map, I was just envisioning a north/south streetcar stop located nearby to an east/west one. Jake mentioned bringing the east/west line in Walnut Hills all the way up Woodburn to Xavier University. If this happed, could it connect to Wasson Way light rail? I thought I heard the problem with getting the Wasson Way line going was the lack of right of way going into downtown from Xavier. Could the streetcar perform this function or would this be too slow of a commute? Could Wasson Way connect to the streetcar on one end and the Oasis Line on the other near Fairfax? (I realize the Oasis Line is not everyone on here’s favorite idea, just posing the question as a thought exercise.)

I revised my map based off some of the comments I received. I now see the light regarding loops. The loop up by the hospital I had in the previous map would have been two miles and seven minutes with no traffic. This configuration is 1.3 miles and also avoids traveling on MLK altogether. I also incorporated the two-way McMillan rerouting suggestions for the east-west line, and left the turnaround as TBD in Walnut Hills. I added a star for another streetcar transfer stop on Vine, roughly where the nice new bustop for Metro is now. In regards to Jefferson vs. Short Vine, in my opinion Jefferson is the way to go. If Short Vine was chosen, I don’t think one stop in the southeast corner of campus would be enough to say you “covered” UC. That corner of campus always felt very remote when I was a student there. Giving UC as much coverage as possible is key to bringing them on as a large stakeholder in the project invested in its success. There are several residence halls along Jefferson and a straight pathway to the ERC and to the UC “MainStreet” area including Tangeman University Center that would all benefit from proximity to the streetcar. I also think that Jefferson is close enough to the new developments on Short Vine to cater to those as well. I left the Clifton Ave. branch of the East-West line on this map. I think you gain a lot from it. McMicken Hall and DAAP at UC, Stratford Heights/west campus area, Deaconess and Good Sam hospitals, Hebrew Union College, and the Clifton Gaslight District. The last is key- this is a dense, established neighborhood full of likely political supporters of the streetcar project. One of the things I like about the downtown/OTR route is its mix of thriving areas and opportunities for new development, and this would add a thriving area to the uptown east-west line. Plus, I would personally love to take the streetcar from my home in OTR to get some Indian food and watch a movie at the Esquire! I changed the turnaround at Ludlow Ave. to TBD- after exploring that corner of Burnett Woods on my bike, there is a really steep topographic drop off going into the woods, and it looks to my untrained eye that a turnaround there would require lots of regrading. I think that the map alone really establishes UC and the hospitals being major stakeholders. If all lines on this map were built, UC would be serviced on three sides. Having them as enthusiastic supporters is key. However, with both health care and education costs rising astronomically, it may be difficult politically for them to spend big money directly on streetcar construction. Perhaps they could support things on the operating end by providing unlimited ride passes to students and employees. This new map looks like a soaring eagle. If the downtown loop were included, it would look like an eagle that had just caught dinner...

My thinking was the tracks would be in both directions down Jefferson past UC main campus to MLK. Then, the northbound track would take a right onto MLK and a left into the hospital campus on Eden. It would proceed down Albert Sabin Way, take a left onto Burnett, left onto Erkenbrecher, and left on Vine until it crosses MLK again and becomes the southbound track on Jefferson. I was coming at it from the perspective of a doctor or nurse commuting from the basin, thinking they would want to get to the hospitals ASAP on their way to work, and by contrast a tourist going to the zoo would have more time to spend riding the streetcar. I think you might be trying to say that the hospitals would need direct access to southbound track as well, instead of forcing a brain surgeon to take a meandering ride past the zoo on his/her way home- their time is pretty valuable, after all. All my reasoning here is pretty unscientific. When you start thinking about work commutes and trying to connect the “employment centers of uptown,” as has been the steady drumbeat on the past seven years, there’s probably some design specs for how the route should be laid out. For example, Location X has Y daily potential riders. It shall take X minutes to get from Location X to the top of the OTR loop, and Y minutes to get from Location X to the Banks. That’s the kind of thing I had no clue about when drawing this map. (Another thing I had no clue about is where the stops should be located relative to employee entrances to avoid any “last mile” issues.) With UC and the hospitals being such major stakeholders, perhaps even financially, they would probably want some influence over this design process as well. Perhaps we’ll know more after the town hall meeting on Tuesday... :-)

I haven't seen an official map for uptown yet, so here's what I came up with just fooling around. I apologize in advance for duplicating subject matter- I am sure this was covered ad nauseum in the previous 689 pages of this thread. Thick lines mean the streetcar goes both ways on a street and thin lines means the streetcar only travels in one direction on a street. The black line starts at the base of the hill in OTR and is the basic uptown extension. It uses John Schneider's forest route, the details of which he is developing. It travels up Jefferson past UC, then splits into a loop into the heart of the hospital campus. From what I can tell on Google street view, it avoids Emergency Room entrances. Would multiple left turns be an issue here? The blue line would be a future line serving Walnut Hills, University Heights, and Clifton Gaslight neighborhoods. It would connect to the uptown extension at a transfer station at University Plaza. The west branch would have a turnaround by clipping off the corner of Burnett Woods by the Fountain. The east branch would turn around using Woodburn Avenue, Madison Rd. and Victory Parkway. I think the map looks like a flexing eagle. Thoughts?

My apologies if this is covered elsewhere on this site but I see you mentioned a streetcar "station" at University Plaza instead of just a stop. Would the idea be to connect an East-West line going from Hughes High School to Walnut Hills along the Calhoun/Taft/McMillan corridor with the North-South line coming from downtown going up to the hospitals and zoo? (or would it be the northern terminal of a gondola lift coming from up the basin? :) ) Very interesting suggestion to put a new UC arena at University Plaza- makes sense on a few different levels, the first being staying in the same neighborhood as the students. My question would be if that would helpful to the city in the recent situation we had in trying to land the RNC. I suppose it would be feasible to use if connected to downtown by the streetcar. Agree campus area could still use a close in grocery store if Kroger moved to MLK interchange.

The Mockbee would be a super cool location for Stone too! With the Central Parkway bike lanes and a bike share station, it would be connected to Downtown, OTR, and Northside and be an awesome destination in the Brighton area. (Some of the locations we're discussing might have difficulty accommodating the scale they want and parking for 374 employees and visitors though, plus the logistics of getting supplies in and beer out. But maybe a combo of nearby buildings could?)

This needs to happen in the Brewery District!!! Does anyone know if there would be a facility the size they would need near the northern terminus of the streetcar route? Perhaps they could they hook up with the Grayscale Cincinnati people, they own the Jackson Brewery (Metal Blast Building,) hopefully this would fit with their other plans. Does that complex include the more modern building on McMicken that's actually marked Jackson Brewing Corporation out front? Could this fit in the Apex furniture building across from the streetcar maintenance and operations facility and Rhinegeist? What about the warehouse building north of Rhinegeist? Stone would really achieve critical mass for brewing in both Cincy and OTR! And be another attraction on the north end of the streetcar route. (Basically, it would really tie the room together, man :-))

"Ohio" from the Cincinnati band The Mitchells: http://themitchells.bandcamp.com/track/ohio Coincidentally, The Mitchells are releasing a new vinyl full length album at The Monastery Studio in East Walnut Hills (2601 Stanton Ave.) this Saturday night at 7PM. https://www.facebook.com/events/264838810356466

"Pledge Allegiance" by Josh Eagle and the Harvest City is an ode to Cincinnati: http://josheagleandtheharvestcity.bandcamp.com/track/pledge-allegiance These other Josh Eagle and the Harvest City tunes have Ohio and Cincinnati themes and shout-outs: http://josheagleandtheharvestcity.bandcamp.com/track/a-good-one-is-hard-to-find http://josheagleandtheharvestcity.bandcamp.com/track/long-distance http://josheagleandtheharvestcity.bandcamp.com/track/home-away-from-home Main bandcamp page for Josh Eagle and the Harvest City: http://josheagleandtheharvestcity.bandcamp.com/

I definitely like to see all of Ohio succeed, but as a Cincinnatian, the prospect of Columbus building a successful light rail network before we do is a little frightening. I think it would raise Columbus to a whole other league, and Cincinnati might lose a whole generation of OSU students from Cincinnati that would stay in Columbus after graduation and never move back to Cincinnati (that is, moreso than what is already happening.) But, I really shouldn't feel that way, because cooperation, not rivalries and jealousies, are what's needed within Ohio. Maybe light rail in Columbus would finally be the catalyst to change attitudes towards transit and development in Cincinnati and across the whole state.

Does anyone one know how spurs would work? For example, a spur going down Ezzard Charles to Union Terminal? Would there be a different color car that travels the main route but also goes down the spur as well? Or would a dedicated car go up and down the spur all day? Would it be difficult to cut into the existing track and what kind of switching equipment would be required? I could also see a need for a downtown spur going all the way down Race and up Elm (so that the system map looks like a block letter lowercase "h") if they built a new arena near the convention center and built up the Banks (GE office) near Paul Brown Stadium.

1420 Elm St., the building directly to the south of the new house you're talking about, has a gorgeous stone facade and is one of my favorite buildings in OTR.

^The narrow sidewalk chokepoint between Sawyer Point and International Friendship Park is horrible to navigate on a bike. It's exacerbated by the fact that you can't just ride through the parking lot because there is a barrier up to split the lot into one half for the Boat House and one half for the park. Perhaps this is an issue for our newly minted All Powerful Bike Lobby to take on? :-) (I saw that term online recently, I dont know who coined that term, but its pretty funny.)

Rail from the airport to the Riverfront Transit Center at the Banks would certainly be a positive for the potential GE offices there! If this does take an act of Congress to set up as Portune lays out in the Business Courier article, maybe Steve Chabot can help out his own district for a change? I did a cursory check on his weekly blog. The last entry dealing with Cincinnati issues (apart from a reference to Opening Day) was one all the way back from September of last year about passing an exception to the Safety of Life at Sea Act so the Delta Queen steamboat could operate on inland rivers. That aside, if it is up to Congress, it's likely to not to happen for a mix of petty partisan reasons, identity politics equally ludicrous and insidious, special interest groups, and billionaire donors weighing in on issues that don't affect them. Our level of national discourse has really sunk to that of a sixth grade school cafeteria table.

Might be kind of crazy but... what if they built on lots 1 and/or 2 (on jwulsin's map above,) decked over Fort Washington Way and expanded with a building there, and connected to that building with a bridge over Second Street?

Maybe related, maybe unrelated, but hasn't GE expressed interest in renovating the conference rooms at the Freedom Center recently? The Banks would offer some great amenities to a GE office- a huge park for your front yard, walking distance to restaurants and a future hotel for out of town business travelers. Plus, putting a GE logo on the Cincinnati skyline would impressive for business travelers coming in from the airport.