I rode the portion of this new bike lane that's open, and it is pretty nice! I bike up Clifton Ave a lot, and have always felt extra unsafe as soon as I crest the hill and am forced in to the travel lane.

 

The only thing I didn't really like was that they put large gaps in the bollards/curbs for bus stops, which there are a ridiculous number of along clifton ave. I wish they had just put bus stop signs in line with the bollards and had people cross the bike lane. I ended up having a bus cut in front of me a bit, then since I couldn't tell how long the bus was going to take I went around, and then the bus started pulling away as I was passing it!

 

Here's hoping that they close the slip lanes from clifton to ludlow and MLK to clifton as well!

Edited March 24, 20214 yr by reportingsjr

On 9/22/2020 at 12:25 PM, Guest jmecklenborg said:

 

So they're going to drive their bike to Clifton Ave., ride to the end of the bike lane, then turn around and come back?

 

To actually go somewhere for real transportation they're going to have to - gasp - leave the "safety" of the bike lane.  

 

What all of this does is it puts the blame on somebody not taking up biking on somebody else.  It's up to you to get an appropriate and properly-fitted bike, it's up to you to wear real shoes instead of flip-flops while biking, it's up to you to build up bike handling skills.  If we started people off on mountain bikes down at Devou or out at Mitchell Memorial people would realize what a piece of cake riding in the city is.  

 

But the finger-waggers don't really want to bike.  They want to say they do.  They want to take a me-too Instagram selfie.  They want a trophy for putting in no work.  

 

 

 

I know this is digging back a bit (I only read this site a couple times a year, mostly follow stuff on twitter/fb), but this feels like a really terrible way to look at this bike lane.

 

I bike a pretty regular amount around the city and the area, including being one of the people who helped design and build the new trails at Mt. Airy that you are calling intense. That's a ridiculous thing to compare to adding a bike lane in the city.

 

If you mountain bike you're choosing to bike in riskier, but predictable situations as a challenge. If you're naysaying a bike lane in the city because it isn't "good enough" you're forcing people to put themselves in risky, unpredictable situations when they may not want to.

 

I live a few blocks from Clifton Ave and frequently bike the route where this protected lane was put in, and I couldn't be happier about it! Every time I got past the Jewish college my anxiety would go up a ton, because people absolutely tear down Clifton and you're forced in to the travel lane instead of the fairly open parking lane.

 

Additionally, my S.O. works at the Chipotle on W Clifton and after years of taking 30-40 mins to walk there from our place, I convinced her to start taking red bike from the Howell Ave station up to the station right by that Chipotle. However, she refuses to ride in the street, and I don't blame her. She (carefully) rides on the sidewalk, and even still has been hit by cars twice while slowly crossing streets. Not quite the "Instagram selfie" taker you're trying to call out for wanting this bike lane.

 

I'll also be sure to tell the woman I watched get absolutely blasted by an SUV last summer while biking past Clifton and Dixmyth that she didn't need any extra safety or a bike lane, because she clearly only cared about instagram seflies.

 

I just want to say that your take is one of the worst takes on bike lanes I've seen in a while and totally ignores many of the people who would gain safety from this stretch, even if it isn't the perfect spot or the perfect design.

On 3/24/2021 at 4:02 PM, reportingsjr said:

I bike a pretty regular amount around the city and the area, including being one of the people who helped design and build the new trails at Mt. Airy that you are calling intense.

Do you know what the proposed $5.1m for "Parks | Mt. Airy Trails Expansion" would be used for? Is that for mountain biking or the trainer course area? Considering how much has been done with volunteer only, $5.1m seems like a lot. 

Today's press conference by Cranley to announce his proposed plans on how to spend the stimulus funding focused on trail development. The only real specifics was a claim that he has a contract ready to sign for the Oasis Trail, that it will be built this year, and that the path will be separated from the semi-active rail line with fencing. He also mentioned a desire to make Mt. Airy a world-class park, and increasing a large expansion of the tree canopy in the City.

Cincinnati Business Courier: Cincinnati set to acquire rights to rail line that will connect East Side trails to downtown

 

Quote

Under the agreement, the public partners on the project, which include the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and Great Parks of Hamilton County, would build a fence between the north and south tracks of the Oasis rail line. The term sheet also calls for the public parties to pay for a variety of insurance policies to cover both them and the railroad if a safety incident happens on either the north or south tracks. The cost of that insurance is unclear. 

 

Quote

The Crown will not be complete until the Mill Creek Trail, a collection of mostly disconnected segments of trail along the west side of the Mill Creek, is completed. It currently ends in South Cumminsville. 

 

Thanks to Chris Wetterich for the friendly reminder to the Mayor, Council, anybody who will listen, that this trail exists and needs love.

 

At this point all of the other portions of the CROWN are planned and being funded.  While the Mill Creek Greenway was put at the back of the priority list, the rest of the CROWN got funded much faster than I ever anticipated, so hopefully that is good news for the Mill Creek Greenway in the near future.

Edited March 31, 20214 yr by 10albersa

7 hours ago, Dev said:

increasing a large expansion of the tree canopy in the City.

Curious to learn more about this! Were any details given? Tree canopies are great, and they take long term planning and vision. Utility companies hate branches and under grounding utilities is expensive. I wish there were easy ways to just make the canopy happen overnight. But it takes generations of commitment. 

Edited March 31, 20214 yr by jwulsin

10 hours ago, jwulsin said:

Curious to learn more about this! Were any details given? Tree canopies are great, and they take long term planning and vision. Utility companies hate branches and under grounding utilities is expensive. I wish there were easy ways to just make the canopy happen overnight. But it takes generations of commitment. 

He only mentioned that he wanted to double the current budget and talked about the benefits of cleaner air as a result. The list from the City Manager does list "Tree Canopy Expansion" at $1 million in the first year and $500k in the second.

 

The ground breaking for the Murray Path is on Friday at 4 pm. It will be held at the intersection of Murray and Plainville. This is the half mile extension of Fairfax's Murray trail through Mariemont and part of the NE section of the Crown network. More info about the project, including renderings, here and here.

On 3/25/2021 at 10:34 PM, shawk said:

Do you know what the proposed $5.1m for "Parks | Mt. Airy Trails Expansion" would be used for? Is that for mountain biking or the trainer course area? Considering how much has been done with volunteer only, $5.1m seems like a lot. 

 

Sorry for the late response on this Shawk. So, some of the mountain biking community was getting excited about this, but they basically didn't talk to CORA at all until literally that press conference Cranley held. I did some math and immediately realized that most of that money was going to be used on a concrete path (if it actually happens). Quality dirt trails run maybe $30k/mile at most. To give Cincy a huge boost at becoming a regional mountain biking destination, plus bring many miles of hiking trail up to modern standards would only take maybe $1mil of that money.

 

On the other hand, paved asphalt paths (think lunken and otto armleder) cost $150-300k, more if structures are involved.

 

As expected, Cranley and the parks mentioned something like $4mil for a paved loop and the rest for invasives remediation and other.

 

I really hope their minds can be changed, as I think this is a big mistake. I think the ideal option for everyone would be a shorter paved path for people who want an easier place to visit (elderly, people with young kids, etc), and put maybe $1-1.5 million of that towards greatly improving the natural surface trails. A mixture of mtb only, mtb/hiking like what CORA is already building, and some hiking only trails. Just this much money would seriously put Cincy on the map for outdoors recreation, since right now it isn't. The closest destination of this sorts is probably 2 hours away in Brown County, Indiana.

58 minutes ago, reportingsjr said:

and the rest for invasives remediation and other.

I know this is a bike thread but Mt Airy desperately needs invasive remediation.  The whole park is turning into a honeysuckle forest

15 hours ago, reportingsjr said:

So, some of the mountain biking community was getting excited about this, but they basically didn't talk to CORA at all until literally that press conference Cranley held.

This is also true of the Clifton Avenue "shared path." Typical Cranley BS. Is CORA hitting up the administration for more specific details?

15 hours ago, Jimmy Skinner said:

I know this is a bike thread but Mt Airy desperately needs invasive remediation.  The whole park is turning into a honeysuckle forest

To be fair, this is true of just about all of our parks. And neighborhoods. Basically our whole damn region will be a honeysuckle forest in the next decade.

 

Public feedback will end July 31st. There is a concern that they won't bother with anything permanent if the feedback is not strong enough.

3 hours ago, Dev said:

 

Public feedback will end July 31st. There is a concern that they won't bother with anything permanent if the feedback is not strong enough.

I was like “Clifton has protected bike lanes?” And then I realized I was in the Cincinnati thread, not the Cleveland thread. And I was so excited to try them. 
 

@mrclifton88

 

If there was one area that needs it, is Clifton Avenue because of the grade. I used to bike through there a lot and even though it never looked steep, I was pooped going south and climbing the grade with traffic. It was kind of like the Mitchell Avenue grade going east near Avondale - looks mild but after pedaling through in the dead heat for 15 minutes, you're slower and just a hot mess. Also that Mitchell Avenue bike lane was half assed toward the western terminus and not at all existent by Interstate 75 (unsure if that was remedied).

Independent of biking, I think that stretch of Clifton Ave should have traffic slowed down considerably. Students walk across Clifton Ave throughout the day, and the City should be actively trying to slow cars down, to better prioritize the space for pedestrians and cyclists.

5 hours ago, jwulsin said:

Independent of biking, I think that stretch of Clifton Ave should have traffic slowed down considerably. Students walk across Clifton Ave throughout the day, and the City should be actively trying to slow cars down, to better prioritize the space for pedestrians and cyclists.

That might be the best argument to keep the lanes in a permanent fashion. I believe Devou Good has been taking traffic data and they have shown a remarkable decrease in the prevalent speeds.

 

Cincinnati never missing an opportunity to embarrass itself bike infrastructure-wise:

 

 

It is mentioned in the thread that "UC Administration did not support the bike lane"... Even though data is showing it vastly reduced speeding on that section of road and gives a safe way for students to bike to campus. Not sure I understand that line of thinking. 

I predict it may have been the appearance of the bike lane that UC had a problem with. With it being a big move in the admin could have gotten complaints from more "prestigious" parents during move in who may have had some influence on the "unsightliness" that is traffic cones and the traffic signage.

 

There was also a decent crash at the pedestrian crossing into Stratford Heights that involved two cars. Both driven by what looked to be students. Maybe one of them had enough pull on the admin to remove it?

 

Overall, it was so nice to have that down to one lane to slow and calm down traffic. Although the kamikazes going 70mph+ down it just weaved around, a lot of the more reckless drivers were tamed. Even it was for a few blocks. From a biking perspective, I always hated biking on that road since there was so many distracted drivers going too fast as well. A protected lane was really needed. 

4 minutes ago, RealAdamP said:

I predict it may have been the appearance of the bike lane that UC had a problem with.

That's a good point... the temporary lanes do have a "construction zone aesthetic" (which is compounded by the actual construction at Clifton Ct and Probasco). 

 

That stretch of Clifton really ought to be treated as the "front door" to the university. McMicken Hall faces it, and historically it was the primary entrance to UC. Clifton Ave deserves a proper streetscape diet. Make it beautiful. Slow cars down. Give pedestrian safe crossing opportunities (adding a few raised crosswalks would be great). Give bikes dedicated lanes. There's plenty of ROW width to do all of this. 

2 hours ago, RealAdamP said:

With it being a big move in the admin could have gotten complaints from more "prestigious" parents during move in who may have had some influence on the "unsightliness" that is traffic cones and the traffic signage.

The email to the City was apparently sent back in July, before the move-in season.

 

 

Coverage late night on Fox19 about the Clifton cycle track featuring quick interviews with Mark Jeffreys, Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney and the UC student who started this petition. Still no word on why or who at UC opposed it. No date on a special joint community meeting yet either.

Fox 19 - Removal of temporary Clifton Avenue bike path put on hold

^I also forget to mention that Devou Good is ready to spend another $100k in improvements to current installation. They originally spent $100k on the current setup.

 

BIKE LANE SNOW PLOW!?!?! Let's go!

Probably just a John Deere Gator with a plow kit.

UC is apparently hellbent on getting the Clifton Ave. bike lane torn out:

 

 

Uptown bike lane may get overhaul as UC reiterates its concerns

 

A protected bike lane near the University of Cincinnati may get a new look as city officials consider whether to remove the popular transportation asset that it does not have the money to make permanent, but university officials say they still worry about the lane’s safety and logistics.

 

The Devou Good Foundation has invested $100,000 to put up the temporary barriers and is willing to invest more, said its president, Matt Butler. New investments could include $50,000 to buy a maintenance vehicle to keep trash, debris and snow out of the lane, plus another $100,000 to make it look better. Butler noted cyclists often complain about the state of the lanes, as drivers fling garbage out of their cars onto them.

 

With the funding, the city could remove orange cones and barriers and replace them with flexible bollards to separate the lane, as well as planters, Butler said.

 

“The key to all this is that we keep the momentum going,” Butler said. “You guys have quite a road there (on Clifton Avenue). It’s 70 feet wide. It’s pretty difficult to cross if you’re walking. We think this has been an overwhelming success.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/10/04/uptown-bike-lane-overhaul.html

 

Bike lane and street calming for Linn St. From Court up to Bank! Option 3 or 4 make way more sense than 6...feedback closes 12/31.

 

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/dote/dote-projects/linn-street-safety-improvement-project/

 

 

1 hour ago, Dcs3939 said:

Bike lane and street calming for Linn St. From Court up to Bank! Option 3 or 4 make way more sense than 6...feedback closes 12/31.

 

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/dote/dote-projects/linn-street-safety-improvement-project/

 

 

I have a lot of questions. I'll have to watch the video later.

• No raised crosswalks? Not even one raised intersection?
• Why is there still only 1 crossing at Wade Street?
• Limited use of bump-outs. Only used for right-turns at busier intersections. People will be able to drive through the parking lane for multiple blocks if empty as well as take quick, narrow turns from side streets
• The landscaped center-islands are a must for 3 and 4 to make this work

The 12 foot travel lanes are a deal breaker for me on option 6, though the notes makes it looks like they don't want to do it anyways. I'm leaning towards option 3, as it could potentially create the largest tree canopy. I also agree with their note about the large number of curb cuts for the cycle track on option 4.

In my comments I mentioned raised crosswalks and signals as well for example, Dayton and Linn or Bank and Linn. It's not great yet but much better than what we have today.

Sad that it requires high-profile pedestrian or cyclist deaths to get the city to make basic, low-cost improvements like this:

 

 

But hopefully the incoming administration will be better about making these types of improvements preventatively.

Fill out this Downtown Bike lane survey. Pretty solid plan. 

 

I said to combine "1" and "2" into bi-directional lanes on 4th and extend the Court Street lanes to Elm and add McMicken lanes, but otherwise it’s great 

 

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/bikes/2022-downtownotr-bike-lane-survey/

 

I wish it had any lanes north of Liberty. McMicken could pretty easily connect to Sycamore/Eggleston. 

I agree, my only comment was to add McMicken to the list. I usually take East Clifton on bike since traffic on McMicken can be too fast for comfortable biking.

I mentioned Vine, with a possible transit lane and two-way conversion. On the last box I mentioned @thomasbwidea of shutting down Roebling to vehicle traffic. I would guess both of those are outside the budget of this project, especially since the bridge is Kentucky's, but figured they were worth mentioning.

 

On 1/7/2022 at 10:40 AM, ucgrady said:

I wish it had any lanes north of Liberty. McMicken could pretty easily connect to Sycamore/Eggleston. 

 

Great idea. Basically connect Sycamore to Linn along McMicken.

 

Quote

 

The first 24 miles of the CROWN will include:

• The completion of Wasson Way from its current western terminus at Xavier University to the University of Cincinnati. That project could start this year and be complete in 2023.
• The Oasis-Ohio River Trail from just west of Lunken Airport to Theodore Berry Friendship Park in the East End, allowing the CROWN’s connection to downtown through Sawyer Point.
• Extension of the Murray Path (which connects to Wasson Way now) from its current terminus in Mariemont to 50 West Brewery and the Little Miami Trial. Plans are being developed for that link now, said Wade Johnston, director of Tri-State Trails, an initiative of Green Umbrella.

 

Cincinnati City Council reverses its first Cranley-era policy

 

The new Cincinnati City Council Thursday asked for options to scrap a plan to complete the Central Parkway bikeway off the street, the first time it has overturned a policy from the administration of John Cranley, the former mayor.

 

Council unanimously approved a motion by Councilman Mark Jeffreys asking for the administration to come up with options to connect the Central Parkway bike lane from its current terminus at Marshal Avenue to Central Parkway on the street. Central Parkway had 7,900 cars per day in 2021, down from 10,000 before the pandemic and 21,000 cars per day in 1986.

...

Cincinnati has two miles of on-street bike lanes separated from traffic compared with 26 in Indianapolis, 18 in Chicago and 124 in New York.

 

“These are our competitor cities. The Crown is great. It’s not everything,” Jeffreys said of the Cincinnati Riding or Walking Network, a system of off-street trails under construction. “Bike infrastructure is not just about cycling. It is about safer streets. We have data that proves it calms traffic. It is about better health, cleaner air, smaller footprint. It is an equity play because you don’t have to own a car. It is about economic and population growth.”

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/01/20/cincinnati-city-council-reverses-its-first-cranley.html

 

 

Great Parks will build bike trail connecting four suburban communities

 

Great Parks of Hamilton County has secured a $6.3 million federal grant to connect four suburban communities and two of the system’s parks together.

 

Great Parks will extend the West Fork Mill Creek Greenway Trail from Glenwood Gardens to Winton Woods. The trail will connect Wyoming and Woodlawn to Springfield Township and Greenhills, including shopping, schools and community resources.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/02/22/great-parks-bike-trails.html

 

I'm not going to link to it, nor did I click on it myself, but the Enquirer just ran an editorial about how we need to spend our money filling potholes instead of building bike lanes. 🧻

Ha timed perfectly for the time of year potholes are unavoidable.