I think the ideal solution might be to use the center two blocks as lawn space and put 2 to 4 story buildings on those end blocks. That would help shield the center lawn from even more highway noise, and also make the lawn feel more like it's in the heart of the city, as you would see buildings in all directions from the lawn. The buildings would also be able to have rooftop patio space that overlook the lawn.

21 hours ago, carnevalem said:

Here's my proposal: use the Walnut/Main block as the main downtown bus transit center. It's better positioned than Government Square for most bus routes, and sits on top of the Riverfront Transit Center.

 

 

Is there a reason you wouldn't prefer to just put the bus transit center in the actual riverfront transit center?

3 hours ago, ucgrady said:

I agree. Looking at Pittsburgh recently completed (last year) cap park, it was $32 million for 108,000 sqft. That's about $296/sqft. The caps between Race and Vine, and Vine and Walnut are 56,350 sqft each, for a total of 112,700 sqft of park space. Ignoring the partial caps on either end, that means our two caps should be able to be done for around $32 million, especially when considering that the foundations already exist and foundations can make up 10-15% of a project's costs (they cost $8 million 20 years ago). Assuming the same price per square foot as Pittsburgh, the total price including the two end caps (at 30,000 sqft each) would be about $51 million. Something's off and it's not just inflation because again their park was built in a post 2020 construction landscape. 

 

In short, I agree, the price tag of $110 million seems crazy high unless it includes development above. For comparison, Pittsburgh's cap isn't bare bones and has topography to deal with:

 

 

 

I think your math is off. The Pittsburgh park is 3 acres. Our two middle caps would be 2 acres each. Total project for FWW would be 5.65 acres. Assuming $296/sqft you get about $73 million for our project. The PGH park also was bid out before 2020. $73 million in 2019 would be $85 million in 2022. Getting pretty close. 

^Fair, and being bid out before 2020 definitely makes a difference. I traced lines on google maps to get those areas, which is clearly not super accurate when the topography is taken into effect. 

I don't see why placing a transit center on the caps is necessary. When the Banks reaches capacity, the Riverfront Transit Center will be more useful for transit access since it will have higher capacity. For riders entering the core of downtown, Government Square will always be more useful and can be improved, like prohibiting through vehicle traffic, although I am also assuming upgrades will be necessary for BRT anyways.

Fort Washington Way decks passed over for major DOT grant

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation declined to fund a planning grant needed to design decks over Fort Washington Way downtown, but project supporters in the business community vowed Wednesday to still get the project done.

 

The city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber had asked for a $2 million planning grant from the federal Reconnecting Communities program, which required a $500,000 match.

 

But the decks were not among the grants announced by the feds on Tuesday.

 

“We made considerable progress in the last year to take this project from a concept to a concrete idea, and the dozens of support letters we submitted with the application shows the broad support this plan has,” said Pete Metz, the chamber’s vice president of civic and regional partnerships. “At the chamber, we’re committed to continuing to build on that progress even before another federal grant opportunity comes open.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/03/01/fort-washington-way-decks-grant.html

 

Ran across these from my personal archives, shot in 1998 or 1999:

 

 

 

On 3/1/2023 at 3:59 PM, ColDayMan said:

Fort Washington Way decks passed over for major DOT grant

 

The U.S. Department of Transportation declined to fund a planning grant needed to design decks over Fort Washington Way downtown, but project supporters in the business community vowed Wednesday to still get the project done.

 

The city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber had asked for a $2 million planning grant from the federal Reconnecting Communities program, which required a $500,000 match.

 

But the decks were not among the grants announced by the feds on Tuesday.

 

“We made considerable progress in the last year to take this project from a concept to a concrete idea, and the dozens of support letters we submitted with the application shows the broad support this plan has,” said Pete Metz, the chamber’s vice president of civic and regional partnerships. “At the chamber, we’re committed to continuing to build on that progress even before another federal grant opportunity comes open.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/03/01/fort-washington-way-decks-grant.html

 

 

Honestly, I am not too upset about being passed over first round. I looked at the list of who also got denied and was surprised by the number of airports with shovel ready projects that also were told no. Sharpen our pencils and go again for second round submission. 

I don't think the FWW Caps are an ideal fit for the reconnecting the community grant funding program.   Seems like the  City's I-71 application in Evanston or even some work with  the I-75 reconstruction throughout the County would be a better fit for the spirit of the program.

 

 

On 3/3/2023 at 7:16 PM, GHOST TRACKS said:

Seems like the  City's I-71 application in Evanston or even some work with  the I-75 reconstruction throughout the County would be a better fit for the spirit of the program.

 

 

FYI, the city's application for I-71 through Evanston was also denied. Additionally, ODOT stated that applying for I-75 through the city would not be necessary as it would be addressed during the BSB corridor project.

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/03/14/fort-washington-way-passed-over-fed-deck-funding.html
 

Fort Washington Way misses out on funding again. I’m sure we’ve talked about this but can some funds from the railroad sale help fund these? I know it’s for existing infrastructure but Washington way was built so that caps could be put on so technically part of this project already exists. 

Fort Washington Way misses out on funding again. I’m sure we’ve talked about this but can some funds from the railroad sale help fund these? I know it’s for existing infrastructure but Washington way was built so that caps could be put on so technically part of this project already exists.

 

back in the day it was pay the $47 million now or deal with the increase in the future.  so we (hamilton county or state of ohio ?) paid and we got nada.

It seems that with the entire Fort Wahington Way Interchange to be replaced west of Elm over the next five years, the caps project may need to be deferred so that ODOT  can maintain traffic through the construction of the Brent Spence Corridor. I doubt the project would score well for any reconnecting community grants since there is no disadvantaged historic "community" to reconnect with. 

On 3/14/2024 at 7:48 AM, Ucgrad2015 said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/03/14/fort-washington-way-passed-over-fed-deck-funding.html
 

Fort Washington Way misses out on funding again. I’m sure we’ve talked about this but can some funds from the railroad sale help fund these? I know it’s for existing infrastructure but Washington way was built so that caps could be put on so technically part of this project already exists. 

I don't think that would be legally permissible but I think the bigger concern is political. I would imagine there would be a very large political backlash if the CSR funds were used on a cap for FWW.