Posted May 22, 200421 yr Government Square redesign gets $3.5M from ODOT The Ohio Department of Transportation approved $3.5 million for the redesign of Metro's Government Square transit hub. The project is currently in the design and engineering phase, and that work should be completed this summer. Metro, Cincinnati's public transit system, has said it will cost about $9.35 million to replace the '70s-era Government Square, which sits on Fifth Street between Walnut and Main streets downtown. In 2003, Metro secured $4 million in federal funding for design and construction, and ODOT previously provided $200,000 for the design work. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060819/NEWS01/608190356/1077
May 23, 200421 yr That place is such a neye sore I thought they were making a transit building though with everything including future light rail.
May 24, 200421 yr They've been working on this design for quite a while. I think this was first reported 6 months-a year ago.
July 1, 200420 yr What in the hell is going on with the government square design i mean its not like we are building a central business district underground transit facility its just new passenger shelters, new sales center,more landscaping and a 5th street side walk so whats the holdup we could have designed a hole new stadium with this amount of time so what do you guys think is happening maybe its done and they are planing the release.....
July 1, 200420 yr I bet they are going to phase out that place and make people use the riverfront transit center.........if they ever unlock the doors.
July 1, 200420 yr They got half of their funding from the federal government in 2003 and just got the other half from ODOT in May. Right now it's in the design and engineering phase, which should be finished within the next couple of months. I haven't heard any timetable for completion (probably because the design hasn't come out yet).
July 1, 200420 yr well even before they got the other half from ODOT it was already in the design and engineering phase its been in that phase since january.They say construction is going to start this summer and should be complete by spring 2005. And no i think they are not going to phase out government square as you can see they are spending 10million on it and the riverfront transit center doors should be unlock when the freedom center opens....
July 2, 200420 yr No not really my question was why is the design and engineering phase taking so long when its such a simple project.
July 2, 200420 yr Take it from an engineer.....nothing is ever as simple as it seems. The design was probably done a long time ago, it's the financing and design approval by all the government agencies involved that's holding it up.
July 2, 200420 yr Take it from an engineer.....nothing is ever as simple as it seems. The design was probably done a long time ago' date=' it's the financing and design approval by all the government agencies involved that's holding it up.[/quote']In other words, it's probably ready to go but it's sitting on somebody's desk somewhere waiting for a stamp of approval.
July 2, 200420 yr You got it. I once worked on a project to improve the Sullivant Ave./Demorest Rd. area of Columbus which was started in 1994....it still hasn't been built. We got all the signatures we needed except one....last I heard it's still on hold.
July 2, 200420 yr The grant includes almost $45 million for renovation and expansion of Government Square' date=' the regional transit hub for 430 SORTA buses. It also includes $253,232 for the purchase of a bus and for security equipment. [/quote']I'm assuming this is a typo. There's no way that $45 million is accurate.
April 13, 200520 yr I'm not sure that I like this plan all that much. It may be safer, but aesthetically, it is no improvement in my view. So it has a few trees, big deal! Since they already have the unused 2nd Street Transit Center, why didn't they just use that and open up Government Square eliminating all that bus mess there? I suppose people are too lazy to walk 3 blocks, but it seems a big waste to me.
April 13, 200520 yr I'll join the growing chorus of "eh". This seems like a less-ambitious version than an earlier rendering, which, IIRC, had more of a PBS-like swooping canopy thing going on. This rendering also doesn't show the Walnut St. renovations, which should be designed to integrate with the new Fountain Sqare. I wonder if the designers thought of that? The south side of 5th also looks less changed than I recall. That said, I don't hate it. The canitlevered canopies recall the Ft. Washington bridges, sorta. And, as has been noted, the most important thing here was solving the traffic and safety problems, for both buses and pedestrians. As for using the would-be multi-modal transit hub on 2nd St, that's a decent point. I think the main bus hub should be located more in the heart of downtown, at Govt Sq. Plus, I'm a sucker for the history of the place. The 2nd St transit center seemed to have been built in the expectation of future use, and for events. Also because we were tearing up stuff already, and we got federal cash to spend. The latter probably explains the most.
April 13, 200520 yr $9.2 million dollars seems like a lot of money to be spenting on this for not a whole lot in return. Granted, a lot of that is "free money" that would end up somewhere else if Cincinnati didnt' use it--but still.
April 16, 200520 yr Have any of you ever watched a pro baseball take three strikes without even swinging the bat? And you think to yourself, I could have done that for a million dollars!! Or have you watched a pro quarterback throw a stupid pass that gets intercepted? And you think to yourself, I could have done that for a million dollars!! My point is, someone got paid a lot of money to come up with this very simple design. Most of us probably could have done the same. Sure it looks a lot better (IMO). But given how long we waited for a design I was expecting something you could launch the Space Shuttle from. Man, I'm in the wrong business.
April 26, 200520 yr SORTA's $200,000 permit for a new information booth has gone through, so we'll probably see a little bit of something going on down there soon.
April 29, 200520 yr i know the gov't square project is needed, but it makes me wonder what the point of the station under the freedom center is supposed to be. its rarely ever open or used. was it just built as a pre-plan for 'the banks' or what?
April 29, 200520 yr It was mostly built as a staging area for buses for events like Reds and Bengals games, festivals etc. It was necessary because the Riverfront Stadium plaza no longer exists. It was also built in anticipation of light rail. I'm unsure what the future of it is for Metro and TANK, though.
April 30, 200520 yr Have any of you ever watched a pro baseball take three strikes without even swinging the bat? And you think to yourself, I could have done that for a million dollars!! Or have you watched a pro quarterback throw a stupid pass that gets intercepted? And you think to yourself, I could have done that for a million dollars!! My point is, someone got paid a lot of money to come up with this very simple design. Most of us probably could have done the same. Sure it looks a lot better (IMO). But given how long we waited for a design I was expecting something you could launch the Space Shuttle from. Man, I'm in the wrong business. That is how I felt about the Bengals logo last year. I saw a "B" with some tiger stripes and wondered who got $500,000 to design it?
May 10, 200520 yr From the city's memorandum of understanding with SORTA (which SORTA approved in April): "Construction is expected to begin in May of 2005 with the majority of work completed this year in the center section of the Square. Peripheral shelter work will be completed in spring of 2006. The City of Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering will manage the construction of Government Square for SORTA." http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/12839.pdf And some words on who will be responsible for maintenance issues--I'll provide the link since it's a scanned document: http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/12845.pdf
May 16, 200520 yr Article from today's Post, in which Tom Luken and John Cranley pretend to be pro-transit: <a href="http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050516/NEWS01/505160350">Luken: Focus on Transit Service</a>
May 16, 200520 yr While I agree with some of the points made in the article. Tom Luken is mainly an old windbag has-been who's time has passed him by and feels the need to chime in on whatever issue is in the papers at the time.
May 17, 200520 yr ^TCK, it's not that I think that some of what he says isn't right. But these guys want to save transit in Cincinnati by killing it. While they talk about improving service, all I ever hear is budget cuts.
May 17, 200520 yr And here's the latest: <b><a href="http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050517/NEWS01/505170365">Government Square deal on hold</a></b>
June 26, 200519 yr This blurb appeared in the Local News Briefs section of the 6/26/05 Enquirer: $9.2M hub overhaul to begin A $9.2 million overhaul of Metro's primary transit hub in downtown Cincinnati begins this week with a new traffic light and intersection improvements at Fifth and Main streets. The project is intended to make the Government Square area safer and more accessible for people with disabilities. The project also will support downtown redevelopment. The final day of bus service in the square will be July 22. Government Square will be closed July 23 through spring of 2006. Temporary bus stops are being established along the blocks near the hub. Specific locations will be announced in July. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050626/NEWS01/506260362/1056
June 28, 200519 yr Here are some of the photos from the website, sorry about the size..... Birdseye View Looking East on 5th Looking West on 5th Nighttime Shot Peripheral Shelter Current Layout New Layout circa1920s circa1941 circa1950s circa1960s circa1970s circa1980 circa2000 All photos from www.sorta.com
June 28, 200519 yr Holy bandwidth, Batman! Maybe we should just post the link, or host them ourselves.
July 13, 200519 yr Work to begin on downtown transit hub Metro and the city of Cincinnati will break ground July 14 for the renovation of the main downtown transit hub on Government Square. The transit center will be closed until the project is completed in spring 2006. Metro officials said in a news release that temporary bus stops will be established as close to the center as possible. Read full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/07/11/daily13.html
July 14, 200519 yr ^ Do you want to host those huge photos elsewhere? I'm surprised they haven't been X'd out yet.
July 18, 200519 yr Bus hub to close, fixes will take months Temporary inconvenience will be rewarded with easier access By Dan Klepal | Enquirer staff writer The layout has been described as a relic of outdated 1970s planning. Since 1998, there have been 149 bus accidents here. Government Square is about to close for several months so that it can be fashioned into a 21st-century transit center - safer, easier to use for people with disabilities and more compact so traffic will flow more smoothly on Fifth Street. The $9 million overhaul will officially start Saturday when the square closes so it can be torn down and rebuilt. Construction will last until late February, or possibly early March. During that time, the 20,000 bus riders who pass through Government Square every day will be redirected to six different bus stops on Fifth and Sixth streets. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050718/NEWS01/507180350/1056
July 19, 200519 yr Time for some confusion! Here are the temporary sites: Metro announces temporary stops Metro has announced temporary bus stops while the transit center at Government Square is under construction. Routes that normally stop at Government Square will be redirected as follows: Westin Hotel, Fifth Street near Vine: Routes 6,10, 32, 33, 40X, 46, 66, 67, 77X; (morning only) 2X, 3, 3X, 44X. Read full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/07/18/daily8.html
July 20, 200519 yr OMG, those old photos of Government Square are priceless! I saved them off, cleaned them up a little, resized them and uploaded them to my site found here: http://www.pbase.com/montecarloss/old_cincy
July 22, 200519 yr Government Square closes for overhaul Buses to stop on Fifth, Sixth By Dan Klepal | Enquirer staff writer Today is the last full day Metro buses will roll in and out of Cincinnati's busiest transit center for at least seven months. Government Square will close at 12:50 a.m. Saturday so crews can tear it down and rebuild a safer and more efficient place for 20,000 daily commuters to hitch a ride. The $9 million project will last until February - perhaps March - and force bus riders to go to one of six temporary bus stops along Fifth and Sixth streets. The construction also will close the lanes of traffic immediately adjacent to Government Square on Walnut, Main and Fifth streets for the duration of project. Metro will have employees at each of the temporary stops to answer questions, direct riders to the proper location and hand out maps showing the new bus stops and corresponding routes that stop there. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050722/NEWS01/507220380/1056
September 6, 200519 yr These photos are about 3 weeks old (8/12 to be exact). I got them off of the SORTA website.
October 28, 200519 yr Looks like they have most of the concrete slab down for Government Square. You can check out the construction live at: http://www.aroundcinci.com/icams/fountain/
February 18, 200619 yr Will every bus have to enter off of SB Walnut? The old Gov't Square used to have buses enter from both Fifth Street and Walnut.
March 16, 200619 yr Any updates? When is this due to be finished again? To my knowledge this project is working with the Fountain Square timeline. This should be done before Fountain Square. More specifically when they put the new surface onto Fifth St.
April 15, 200619 yr I drove by yesterday and there are several bus bays/shelters already up and they are working their way down the block pretty quickly.
April 15, 200619 yr I walked by it and got yelled at because I walked in the fence. It is coming along nicely and I like the materials they are using.
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