August 8, 20222 yr I'll chime in here since I bike this corridor multiple times per week as a commuter to the UC med center, and have been for years prior to the installation of the sidewalk "trail" along MLK. It's a correct statement that it's a terrible excuse for a cycle path and is regularly covered in debris and broken glass (but then, so are many of our city's bike lanes). Prior to that existing, I took a route from Madison-MLK and turned left on University just past Victory Parkway, and used Highland to access the med center. This is not a bad route and not too out of the way to access the med center, but could use at least a bike lane to make it more friendly. Also, waiting out the stop lights at both Gilbert and Reading is always very time consuming. This is still my preferred route if I'm going to main campus, but this also requires merging into traffic on MLK from the bike lane and then making the left turn. The biggest two problems with the MLK trail in its existing state are: 1) It's completely unsafe to travel Eastbound on this given the large percent of cars that illegally turn right on red onto MLK from the highway ramps. Many pull up, block the crosswalk/trail crossing, and never bother to look right before continuing onto MLK. 2) The trail just ends at Gilbert. So in order to get back into the bike lane, you have to either use both cross walks, or use the first crosswalk on MLK and loop back into traffic at the red light. Both of these problems seem like relatively easy fixes with a little colored paint and signage, but as a result of these, I use alternate routes to get home Eastbound (usually down Forest/Rockdale to Victory Parkway and up Dana to hop on the Wasson Way trail at Xavier). However, I think with the completion of the Wasson Way trail from Xavier to the MLK/Reading intersection, very few bike commuters from the East side neighborhoods will continue to use the MLK path. I'll also say that while these opinions are largely my own, I've talked to other bike commuters that generally feel the same way.
August 15, 20222 yr $20 million overhaul coming to key Cincinnati corridors from West End to Lower Price Hill Major Cincinnati streets in a neighborhood where hundreds of acres were demolished decades ago by highway construction will get a pedestrian-friendly makeover using a $20 million grant from the federal infrastructure bill. The State-to-Central project will include Linn Street, which cuts through the heart of the West End and contains a lightly occupied business district, and West Eighth Street, which runs from Lower Price Hill through Queensgate to downtown. “From day one we’ve been aggressively competing for the infrastructure dollars available,” said Mayor Aftab Pureval on Twitter earlier this week. “I’ve been out in the community listening to your concerns about making our streets safer, and it’s investments like this that will help us reach our goals.” Many households in these neighborhoods do not have a car, and the project will allow residents to safely ride bicycles from their homes to downtown. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/08/15/cincinnati-roads-project-funding.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 29, 20222 yr The results are in from Mariemont's initial survey to connect the CROWN through the heart of the village. No real surprises here but there were some useful suggestions for specific routing options along Wooster or the former interurban line. It's good that the feedback clearly stated that separated or protected is the preferred method, though that's not much of a surprise. I doubt they go through Wooster as there's little chance ODOT would let them reduce travel lanes and they might get too much pushback internally as well. At this point it's just a matter of how many property owners along Murray complain about the path cutting in front of their homes, which could cause it to take Thorndike to go around them. Their final summary: Quote It has been decided to formally analyze the following three scenarios for feasibility: A. No-Build or “Bare Minimum” option B. Through the Village Center (and Old Town) Route C. Northern Route along Hiawatha Avenue and Murray Avenue Considerations in deciding not to analyze the Southern Route: Northern and Village Center Route were two most preferred Southern Route minimum 1.3 miles, compared to Northern at 0.7 miles and Village Center at 0.8 to 1.0 miles The preferred separated or protected path would be more difficult to achieve with the Southern Route Goal of this study is to determine what’s feasible and at what cost and to determine a preferred option/route. After the preferred option/route is implemented, parts or the entirety of other options can also be implemented. You can see the full report here: https://www.kleingers.com/mariemont-connector-feasibility-study/
September 7, 20222 yr Central Parkway bikeway set to be completed By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier Sep 6, 2022 Updated Sep 6, 2022, 3:47pm EDT Eight years after the project was started, the city of Cincinnati has received a federal grant to complete the Central Parkway bikeway, which will link seven neighborhoods together with a bicycle lane set aside from cars. Cincinnati City Council is expected to vote Thursday to accept a federal grant approved through the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments that will be used in concert with city money to complete the protected bike lane on the street. It will run 4 miles from Ludlow Avenue in Clifton to downtown. MORE
September 13, 20222 yr Little Miami Trail will connect to Lunken Airport Trail in one of Greater Cincinnati's most-important bike trail connections yet By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier Sep 12, 2022 Bicyclists and pedestrians will soon be able to ride or walk from Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood to the 78-mile Little Miami Trail and beyond. The Beechmont Bridge Connector is set to open with a ribbon cutting on Sept. 21, followed by a community celebration called Go Big Day on Oct. 2, complete with a 5K, e-bike rides, music, food trucks and beverages. The Beechmont Bridge Connector is only a half a mile, but it is critical to connecting Cincinnati’s off-road cycling and pedestrian trails because it goes over the otherwise-impassable Little Miami River itself. MORE
September 13, 20222 yr On 9/7/2022 at 8:35 AM, The_Cincinnati_Kid said: Central Parkway bikeway set to be completed By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier Sep 6, 2022 Updated Sep 6, 2022, 3:47pm EDT Eight years after the project was started, the city of Cincinnati has received a federal grant to complete the Central Parkway bikeway, which will link seven neighborhoods together with a bicycle lane set aside from cars. Cincinnati City Council is expected to vote Thursday to accept a federal grant approved through the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments that will be used in concert with city money to complete the protected bike lane on the street. It will run 4 miles from Ludlow Avenue in Clifton to downtown. MORE Does anybody know details of the design and/or location for the extension? Will it continue around the "bend" in downtown (onto the segment where Central Parkway runs east-west)? Edited September 13, 20222 yr by jwulsin
September 13, 20222 yr 48 minutes ago, jwulsin said: Does anybody know details of the design and/or location for the extension? Will it continue around the "bend" in downtown (onto the segment where Central Parkway runs east-west)? I believe this is Marshall to Ludlow. But they have a separate plan to extend from Plum to Eggleston.
October 20, 20222 yr Just now, Dev said: New survey from ODOT for the Columbia Connector: https://publicinput.com/Y4548
November 14, 20222 yr Route details for the Mariemont Connector, the CROWN shared-use path from the Mariemont Library to the current terminus at Plainville Road, should be released tomorrow with a survey.
November 21, 20222 yr On 11/14/2022 at 8:54 AM, Dev said: Route details for the Mariemont Connector, the CROWN shared-use path from the Mariemont Library to the current terminus at Plainville Road, should be released tomorrow with a survey. The recommendations and survey is out now: https://www.kleingers.com/mariemont-connector-feasibility-study/ They also included route options for Plainville and Miami but they are not recommended. Some residents along the northern route are opposing that option citing reduced emergency response times, removal of tree cover, it's not as safe, it's ugly, will hurt their property values, etc. I have been told that there are two village council members who are opposed to the northern route, one of which is a hard no. Edited November 21, 20222 yr by Dev
November 21, 20222 yr Wait, they think a bike lane will hurt their property values? Have these people been to Indianapolis or Carmel, IN in the past, I dunno, 15 years? Oy vey. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 21, 20222 yr To paraphrase Roxanne Qualls, "do they think people are going to be riding in the bike lanes with a bunch of stolen VCRs?"
November 22, 20222 yr 17 hours ago, ColDayMan said: Wait, they think a bike lane will hurt their property values? Have these people been to Indianapolis or Carmel, IN in the past, I dunno, 15 years? Oy vey. It's nuts. They are throwing every argument they can at a dartboard to see what sticks. I saw someone say that the northern route is dangerous because it intersects with "high speed" roads and multiple driveways. WTF do you call WOOSTER PIKE????
November 22, 20222 yr The "north" route is merely a continuation of the Murray Ave. bike path. It'll be just like that. It's not like these people have to look far to see how it'll be.
January 27, 20232 yr ODOT is going with alternative 1 for the Mt. Adams bridge over 71, replacing the existing bridge in parallel. The more expensive steel truss was selected and it was widened to 12 feet from the proposed 10 feet. The final aesthetic design to be determined in talks with the city but it will not be a chain link fence.
February 10, 20232 yr Cincinnati bridge between downtown, Mount Adams will be replaced By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier Feb 10, 2023 The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to replace the bridge system connecting downtown to Mount Adams. MORE
February 21, 20232 yr Bike lanes proposed for the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge...I imagine that they plan to eliminate the center variable-direction land in order to free up the space: https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/could-a-bike-lane-be-in-the-cards-for-the-clay-wade-bailey-bridge I have bicycled across this bridge many times. Typically, a ton of gravel and broken glass can be found along the white line.
February 22, 20232 yr Greater Cincinnati bike trail usage increased last year The number of people using Greater Cincinnati’s bicycle and pedestrian trails grew in 2022, according to Tri-State Trails, an advocacy group for a connected regional trail and bicycle network. The group has been collecting data on usage since 2017 and found a major spike in usage in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic as people sought outdoor recreation. Two usage metrics dropped in 2021, but growth resumed in 2022. Tri-State Trails uses two measurements – average annual daily traffic and trail miles traveled annually. In 2022, trail miles traveled was 17.7 million, up from about 17 million in 2021. In 2020, residents and visitors traveled 22.7 million miles on the region’s trails. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/02/21/greater-cincinnati-bike-trail-usage-increased-last.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 22, 20232 yr 22 hours ago, Lazarus said: Bike lanes proposed for the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge...I imagine that they plan to eliminate the center variable-direction land in order to free up the space: https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/could-a-bike-lane-be-in-the-cards-for-the-clay-wade-bailey-bridge I have bicycled across this bridge many times. Typically, a ton of gravel and broken glass can be found along the white line. This was also mentioned when ODOT and KYTC were last on Cincinnati Edition. I don't think they would commit to a specific design choice but they did mention that the removal of the reversible lane would be a consideration.
February 22, 20232 yr 7 minutes ago, Dev said: This was also mentioned when ODOT and KYTC were last on Cincinnati Edition. I don't think they would commit to a specific design choice but they did mention that the removal of the reversible lane would be a consideration. Alternatively, they could widen the pedestrian walk. It would be expensive, as they'd have to weld extensions onto the existing beams and pour a new deck, but the current pedestrian walk is too narrow. It's difficult for two people to pass, especially if one is walking a bike.
February 23, 20232 yr Seems to me with the direct new access ramps to and from the I-75 mainline at the foot of the CWB at Third Street that the traffic will go up significantly on the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge after the I-75 reconstruction which be counter intuitive to reducing capacity on the bridge to accommodate dedicated bike lanes. This will become a more direct route to the interstate to and from the north for drivers from the riverfront in Covington than the existing Brent Spence will be when it is done.
February 23, 20232 yr Cincinnati seeks major Bloomberg grant to connect neighborhoods by bicycle The city of Cincinnati plans to apply for a $1 million grant from a fund associated with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to connect neighborhoods by bicycle along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Today, the city’s bicycling infrastructure on MLK is broken up and unconnected. There are multi-use paths for pedestrians and bicyclists on the north side of MLK between Central Parkway and Eden, Clifton, Bellevue, Burnet and Gilbert avenues. A shared-use path along the south side of MLK is also between Woodside Drive and Jefferson Avenue in front of the University of Cincinnati. The city wants the money from the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure to connect Clifton Avenue in Clifton Heights-University Heights-Fairview (CUF) with Vine Street in Corryville with a $2 million “complete street,” one that is “planned designed, operated and maintained so that people of all ages and abilities can safely and comfortably move around the city street network using all modes of travel.” More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/02/23/cincinnati-seeks-major-bloomberg-grant-to-connect.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 23, 20232 yr 23 minutes ago, ColDayMan said: Cincinnati seeks major Bloomberg grant to connect neighborhoods by bicycle The city of Cincinnati plans to apply for a $1 million grant from a fund associated with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to connect neighborhoods by bicycle along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Today, the city’s bicycling infrastructure on MLK is broken up and unconnected. There are multi-use paths for pedestrians and bicyclists on the north side of MLK between Central Parkway and Eden, Clifton, Bellevue, Burnet and Gilbert avenues. A shared-use path along the south side of MLK is also between Woodside Drive and Jefferson Avenue in front of the University of Cincinnati. The city wants the money from the Bloomberg Initiative for Cycling Infrastructure to connect Clifton Avenue in Clifton Heights-University Heights-Fairview (CUF) with Vine Street in Corryville with a $2 million “complete street,” one that is “planned designed, operated and maintained so that people of all ages and abilities can safely and comfortably move around the city street network using all modes of travel.” More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/02/23/cincinnati-seeks-major-bloomberg-grant-to-connect.html Oh wow, this is amazing. I've always felt that the 7 lanes through this section is wildly unnecessary. I don't know how aggressive they will be able to go with this but anything would be a welcome improvement. Hopefully it being a street dividing a park and massive University helps the application.
February 23, 20232 yr 13 hours ago, GHOST TRACKS said: Seems to me with the direct new access ramps to and from the I-75 mainline at the foot of the CWB at Third Street that the traffic will go up significantly on the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge after the I-75 reconstruction which be counter intuitive to reducing capacity on the bridge to accommodate dedicated bike lanes. This will become a more direct route to the interstate to and from the north for drivers from the riverfront in Covington than the existing Brent Spence will be when it is done. ODOT has a traffic count last year of sub-16k. Better signaling, or a roundabout on the Covington side, could be all that's needed, although the direct ramp is really not necessary at all. Hopefully it gets VE'd out of the project.
March 6, 20232 yr On 2/28/2023 at 1:46 PM, Dev said: Cool, didn't realize this was in the works. Any reason given for not doing protected bike lanes on Hamilton Ave? Excited for the centerline hardening and improvements at the Hamilton and North Bend intersection.
March 6, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, dnymck said: Cool, didn't realize this was in the works. Any reason given for not doing protected bike lanes on Hamilton Ave? Excited for the centerline hardening and improvements at the Hamilton and North Bend intersection. I probably can find out later this weekend but I would guess that was just the preference for the residents along that street. There are a handful of small multi-families so the parking demand may already exist. FWIW, apparently North Bend is scheduled to be resurfaced in 2025 so if this goes well, a more permanent installation could follow in the near future.
March 9, 20232 yr On 3/6/2023 at 1:31 PM, Dev said: I probably can find out later this weekend but I would guess that was just the preference for the residents along that street. There are a handful of small multi-families so the parking demand may already exist. FWIW, apparently North Bend is scheduled to be resurfaced in 2025 so if this goes well, a more permanent installation could follow in the near future. Pretty sure parking is not allowed on this entire stretch. Must've wanted to preserve the LOS.
March 9, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, dnymck said: Pretty sure parking is not allowed on this entire stretch. Must've wanted to preserve the LOS. I'm seeing that both North Bend and Hamilton have parking in all 3 of these sections, but are rush-hour restricted, so this would likely reduce LOS during peak hours.
April 5, 20232 yr Kleingers Group has finished their feasibility study for the Mariemont Connector. This is a selection of maps from the report and the full report is on the village's website: https://mariemont.org/ EDIT: The village has received funding from ODNR for a shared-use path from Pocahontas to Miami, which was contingent on the village adopting a specific plan/route. The local match is being provided by donations, largely from Tri-State Trails. The village council will vote on the final alignment on Monday, April 10th. If approved, construction would start in the spring of 2024. I don't think there is any funding at the moment for the last section, from Miami to Plainville. Edited April 6, 20232 yr by Dev
April 6, 20232 yr The final completion of the Central Parkway bike lane is out to bid on the city's website. The project was switched from an off-road shared-use path, to an on-street two-way protected cycle track. This was chosen to save money, which could be diverted to other bike infrastructure projects in the city. The project scope starts at Marshall Avenue, and ends at Ludlow, which will be heavily redesigned. That intersection with Ludlow will be completely redesigned, removing the slip lanes, as well as adding the city's first two-stage turn queue box. There will also be some refugee islands in the center turn lane throughout the project, to allow for safer crossings for some bus stops. It appears there will also be some micro surfacing preventive maintenance on the roadbed. Edited April 6, 20232 yr by Dev
April 6, 20232 yr The phase of Wasson Way, 6A, is also out to bid. This is the big section that will connect it into Avondale at Blair Court. The work starts at Dana and Woodburn, where the sidewalk will be widened on the west side of Woodburn so it will be up to shared-use standards. It will turn west to the north of Dynamic Industries, hugging the north side of their building. The aprons along this section of Woodburn will also be replaced as part of the project scope, although I think this is essentially a reduction of parking for them, I doubt it will have any negative impact. The other notable aspect of the project is that they are only putting the path on one of the 2 bridges that span Victory, and it will be the western side, not the side facing 71. Blair Court will be resurfaced as part of the project and the path will have a slight stub sticking out south of Blair to prepare it for future expansion. From a legal perspective, I don't think this will create a gap in the network, as the sidewalks along Montgomery and Dana can be used by cyclists. That is still fairly hostile though, so I'm curious if people will choose to cross at Montgomery. IIRC the city has plans to install a crosswalk on Montgomery, and Xavier is working on passing it through those parking lots. The city also a received SORTA Transit Infrastructure Fund grant to straighten Idlewild at Dana so the crossing there would be as short as possible and perpendicular/parallel to the flow of auto traffic.
April 6, 20232 yr 12 minutes ago, Dev said: That is still fairly hostile though, so I'm curious if people will choose to cross at Montgomery No, they won't - not most casual joggers or people with kids. It's hard to believe that they are doing this phase without getting the path built through what is now Xavier's campus, immediately east of Montgomery. What is the holdup?
April 6, 20232 yr 22 minutes ago, Lazarus said: No, they won't - not most casual joggers or people with kids. It's hard to believe that they are doing this phase without getting the path built through what is now Xavier's campus, immediately east of Montgomery. What is the holdup? That parcel is owned by Xavier so the crossing can be done by Cincinnati but the path is on the university.
April 6, 20232 yr 25 minutes ago, Dev said: That parcel is owned by Xavier so the crossing can be done by Cincinnati but the path is on the university. This is from CROWN's presentation at January's Tri-State Trails committee meeting. I'll look through the video after lunch, but it's clearly still being planned for.
April 6, 20232 yr ^It's not as if this snuck up on XU. This thing has been in active planning since Cranley was elected in 2013.
April 6, 20232 yr 40 minutes ago, Lazarus said: ^It's not as if this snuck up on XU. This thing has been in active planning since Cranley was elected in 2013. For me, I can see why Xavier would want to wait until the connection to Blair and the re-alignment of Idlewild would be completed. I also imagine Wasson Way and Tri-State Trails were busy prioritizing other projects. In his presentation, Sean McGrory, President of Wasson Way, he did not mention any specifics but he did state that it would be completed this year.
May 23, 20232 yr https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2023-05-23/officials-plans-connect-cincinnati-bike-infrastructure DOTE and CROWN updates on current projects and future plans for bike infrastructure.
May 24, 20232 yr 18 hours ago, dnymck said: https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2023-05-23/officials-plans-connect-cincinnati-bike-infrastructure DOTE and CROWN updates on current projects and future plans for bike infrastructure. The big slide from DOTE's presentation. The funding gap total is just for everything in orange. The previous slides had their own numbers for those years. They haven't applied for grants for anything in orange, and it is all beyond their 6 year plan so that's why the number is so massive.
May 24, 20232 yr 15 minutes ago, Dev said: The big slide from DOTE's presentation. The funding gap total is just for everything in orange. The previous slides had their own numbers for those years. They haven't applied for grants for anything in orange, and it is all beyond their 6 year plan so that's why the number is so massive. Really bummed Mill Creek Greenway and College Hill-Northside are so far out. Also, no solid plans bike lanes downtown? Sad. Streets are relatively easy to navigate on a bike but so many are oversized and could really benefit from dedicated lanes for other uses. What's with the big orange square in CUF? Are they planning bike lanes for all the streets between Warner, Ravine, McMillian, and Wheeler?
May 24, 20232 yr 3 minutes ago, dnymck said: Really bummed Mill Creek Greenway and College Hill-Northside are so far out. Also, no solid plans bike lanes downtown? It sucks but it makes sense given how these projects come together. All of these will be partly paid from grants which have mandatory delays in the disbursement of funds. They also do not have legal access to the land needed to complete the Mill Creek Greenway, which is why it has never been completed even though it was the first one to start. IIRC the majority of the Northside/College Hill Connector is owned by Duke but I think there's one gap where there's an issue. 3 minutes ago, dnymck said: What's with the big orange square in CUF? Are they planning bike lanes for all the streets between Warner, Ravine, McMillian, and Wheeler? Alternating one-way streets with contra-flow bike lanes. They just did this to Tusculum Avenue south of Columbia Parkway.
May 24, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, Dev said: IIRC the majority of the Northside/College Hill Connector is owned by Duke but I think there's one gap where there's an issue. Correction, most of it is owned the city. Duke owns one small piece, while two other large sections are owned by different property owners. One is part of a large parcel that is an apartment complex and the last stub before Springlawn Avenue is owned by the adjacent manufacturing company. For the apartment complex, hopefully there's a utility easement that can be exploited. Next to the manufacturing company, Spring Grove Cemetery owns adjacent parcels to the east, which includes an old access road. That might allow them to bypass the private parcel that used to be the rail line.
May 24, 20232 yr Here's the previous map of downtown. It looks to me like all 9 of the numbered routes are on the final plan.
May 25, 20232 yr What happened to Ohio River Trail West? Seems like I first heard about it 10 years ago and now it looks like it's not even in the plans for the next 10 years beyond what is already completed. Or is it considered already in planning so it's not on the map? Edited May 25, 20232 yr by LAW 21
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