Near unanimous Cincy Council wants Riverside project to proceed

 

Eight Cincinnati Council Members are ready to tell city administrators not to delay a plan to reconfigure Riverside Drive in the East End to include bicycle lanes.

 

City transportation officials suggested postponing the work for at least a year while I-471 in Northern Kentucky undergoes major reconstruction. Those officials said they believe eastside commuters will use Kellogg and Riverside Drive as an alternate route to avoid 471.

 

Resident Richard Hunt told City Council Wednesday the bicycle project should not be placed on hold.

 

Cont

I am planning a bicycle tour.  Would it be safe to ride from Milford, where the Little Miami Trail ends, to the Roebling Bridge?  An eager user at maps.google.com thinks that Riverside Drive is a cycling route, but I would prefer to have "local knowledge".  Thanks

I am not a cyclist but I do live off Riverside Dr. It is used daily by commuters and recreationalists.

Riverside is as much a cycling route as you can find around here.  It's used by pretty much anyone going between downtown and the east side.  Also, the bike trail hasn't ended at Milford for years now, it goes to Newtown Road and the Little Miami Golf Center. 

Good information...So, I could get there on Wooster then Eastern Avenue?

What's nice for bicyclists is that most of the automobile traffic uses a parallel route, Columbia Parkway, for higher speed. I rode from downtown to Lunken Airport and back once and can't remember any problem with the route, and I would say that it's safer than the average road.

 

The Ohio River Way is trying to construct a separate bike path connecting the existing one to downtown, but I think it's unnecessary.

Boreas, it is a very easy area to bike.  It's just about the only level place to ride in the entire Cincinnati area with the exception of the bike trail. 

 

You will see the area between :30 and 1 minute on this video:

 

The reason why the video jumps is because the camera I was using created files that my primitive video editing software could not deal with properly.  Specifically, the camera recorded 50 minute clips, but for some reason my program could only open the first 10 minutes of each clip, so you see 10 minutes sections of this ride with 40 minute jumps between.  My brother is a professional video editor and created a really slick edit of this ride (fixed all those problems and added graphics) but he's been lazy about getting it uploaded to youtube or viemo. 

 

 

 

What's the easiest way to get from Riverside/Lunken area to the trail in Newtown? best route?

That's one of the more difficult questions to answer.  The simplest and most direct way is to take Wilmer and Beechmont Circle to Wooster, then follow that through Fairfax and Mariemont to get on the trail at Newtown Road.  The problem is that Wooster between Beechmont and Red Bank is pretty awful to ride, especially Beechmont Circle and for the next half mile or so north of there.  Wooster can be hairy in Plainville east of Mariemont too.  Note that Fairfax is reconstructing Wooster Pike right now, so I'd take side streets through Fairfax.

 

The other option, if you're coming from downtown, would be to take Delta up the hill through Mt. Lookout Square to Erie, then take Erie down the hill to Murray Road and the Fairfax trail.  That bypasses the construction in Fairfax and dumps you onto Murray Avenue in Mariemont, which you can follow to Madisonville Road and Wooster Pike again. 

 

What's a shame is that there's no way to avoid the nasty strip of Wooster Pike in Plainville, which is pretty bike-hostile.  Once they get the trail connection between Lunken and Armleder that'll at least allow you to avoid the Wilmer/Beechmont Circle mess, but until the Little Miami Trail itself is connected to Lunken/Armleder then you're going to have to deal with Wooster at some point along the journey. 

http://www.queencitybike.com/?p=4072

 

City To Announce National Award For Bike Program

 

WHAT:  Director of Transportation & Engineering Michael Moore will announce a national award for the City’s Bike Program on Monday, the first day of Bike to Work Week 2012.

 

WHEN:  Monday, May 14, 2012, 8 a.m.

 

WHERE: Coffee Emporium Bike Commuter Station – 110 E. Central Parkway (front sidewalk) Over-the-Rhine

This sounds like it's not going to be very important. I mean, honestly, what's so spectacular about the city's unfunded bike program? It's not terrible or anything, but it's not exactly breaking new ground.

 

I'm very mildly curious about this announcement.

This sounds like it's not going to be very important. I mean, honestly, what's so spectacular about the city's unfunded bike program? It's not terrible or anything, but it's not exactly breaking new ground.

 

I'm very mildly curious about this announcement.

 

Ding Ding Ding

Cincinnati receives national bicycle award, announces bike share feasibility study

http://www.urbancincy.com/2012/05/cincinnati-receives-national-bicycle-award-announces-bike-share-feasibility-study/

 

Here's the big announcement part of it:

 

City officials and bicycling advocates also took the opportunity today to announce that Cincinnati will begin a bike share feasibility study for the region’s urban core. The process, officials say, will begin in June and be completed by August this year. The work will be done by Alta Planning+Design, which is the same firm that has developed and implemented bike share programs in Washington D.C., Boston and New York City.

 

“We’re honored to be included among America’s most bicycle-friendly communities,” said DOTE director Michael Moore. “The award, as well as the bike share study, shows the city’s continued commitment and investment to making bicycling a viable transportation option for our residents.”

 

Bike share programs utilize rental kiosks that typically host 10 to 12 bicycles available to anyone interested in using them. Bike share kiosks across the United States typically accept credit card payments, but best practices around the world allow users to utilize a payment card that is integrated with the region’s bus, rail, and taxicab networks.

Very cool, bbbbuuuuutttt....

 

I think the only successful bikeshare program in Cincinnati would be pretty limited. I remember discussing this just a week or so ago on a tangent in some thread or other. I think it would work with stations at a few select garages and places in the basin. The Banks, Washington Park, Fountain/Government Squares, Main Strasse, Monmouth Street, a couple others. An extension to Northside if the system works.

I almost never post (created this account about...6 years ago?), but I think this has a lot of potential to connect a lot of the larger NBDs together nicely, with some dedicated bike lanes, it would seem really easy to bike from Hyde Park Square to Xavier or to Mt. Lookout Square or over to Pleasent Ridge or Rookwood.  Same is true between College Hill and Northside and Northside to Clifton.  It has a lot of potential in the center city, but I'm intrigued by its potential within the neighborhoods.  The question in those areas is whether or not ridership would be high enough to sustain the infrastructure outside of the CBD, OTR, Uptown areas.

I should have mentioned Ludlow along with Northside in my post. But College Hill? I imagine those bikes going down the hill and no one wanting to bring them back up!

 

BTW...you haven't posted rarely, you posted NEVER! Until today...Happy day. Welcome...4 years late! ;-) (You predate my existence here by quite a bit of time...if not posts.  :-o)

I almost never post (created this account about...6 years ago?), but I think this has a lot of potential to connect a lot of the larger NBDs together nicely, with some dedicated bike lanes, it would seem really easy to bike from Hyde Park Square to Xavier or to Mt. Lookout Square or over to Pleasent Ridge or Rookwood.  Same is true between College Hill and Northside and Northside to Clifton.  It has a lot of potential in the center city, but I'm intrigued by its potential within the neighborhoods.  The question in those areas is whether or not ridership would be high enough to sustain the infrastructure outside of the CBD, OTR, Uptown areas.

 

Welcome, XPetey. I think the ridership COULD be there in those other areas but right now I think the 'safest reach' is downtown, OTR and uptown b/c of the density, streetcar line and population with limited access to automobiles (ie UC)

 

I'd love to see this system throughout the various neighborhoods. Bicycle ridership would skyrocket if there was a network of dedicated bike lanes and bikeways between the NBDs.

The good and bad thing about Cincinnati's layout is how the urban business districts are separated from each other and the geography and highways along with other barriers makes it harder to connect them together. Bike Pittsburgh has a kick-ass online map which shows trail access, dedicated bike lanes (doesn't have much), and bike routes in their hilly city. I already posted over in the Columbus cycling thread about how the city took money allotted to bike parking and instead of installing 3x more bike corrals (parking for 1000s of bikes) than Portland has they spent it on ten measly bike shelters at $30,000 each or 10x more expensive than an uncovered on-street bike corral which each provide parking for as many or more bikes. So, I think you can see where Cincinnati has yet another opportunity to stand apart from the rest of Ohio.

 

These make a lot of sense, particularly in the context of Cincinnati where you have small dense business districts where centrally located on-street bike parking would be attractive and highly visible, not to mention in lieu of one car carrying maybe four people, but probably less, you have several times more customers by trading off one parking space. Pittsburgh's stated goal is to have at least one bike corral in each neighborhood and that really should be the minimum goal for Cincinnati. Who are the most frequent customers at NBD businesses in Northside or Pleasant Ridge or Mt. Adams? Aren't the local residents of each neighborhood the ones serving as the lifeblood of each respective district? So really, I have to say that these are the people you want to focus on and ensuring that bike parking is prominently featured and ample means a lot for residents that live a block too far away for their liking to walk and now opt mainly for a car vs. walking or biking (see the yellowish-green to red areas on the edge of highly walkable NBDs on Walkscore). Some will make the switch to bikes if they know they can expect to find a spot if they choose to bike and when the parking is on-street it makes it more socially acceptable for bikes to be there, especially if they're on a low traffic side street that leads to the NBD. And guess what? They're cheap: around $1,000-$4,000 each so there's really nothing to lose by increasing the number of people who can park at any given district. Advocates just need to get the city to commit a small amount of funding and it's easier/faster to install rather than going the bike lane or bike share route where an increase in cyclists still would mean more dedicated bike parking is needed anyway. Two on-street bike corrals is a nice start in Northside and OTR, but really there is no reason Ludlow, etc, shouldn't see ones debut soon, although I wonder how receptive Mt Adams or Hyde Park businesses would be to the idea.

Near unanimous Cincy Council wants Riverside project to proceed

 

Eight Cincinnati Council Members are ready to tell city administrators not to delay a plan to reconfigure Riverside Drive in the East End to include bicycle lanes.

 

Cont

 

This appears to be proceeding. On the evening of 07/16, a construction vehicle was out grinding up the double yellow line and white lane markers from the Delta Ave. intersection west to Pittsburg St. I was on that stretch again yesterday and there are a lot of temporary lines that would indicate a two lane road with a center turn lane and bike lanes on either side.

So, they are going to connect Tusculum/Columbia with the Little Miami Bike Trail someday, correct?

 

It would be cool to pedal down to the Ohio River from my house, via Waynesville and then points south!

Anyone used the lockers/showers/storage facility at the Banks yet? I referred a friend there who was looking for a shower before heading to his office downtown each morning and I want to know what the facilities are like....

^ I locked my bike up there the Saturday before last during a Reds game - just wanted to check it/test it out. The bike lockup area is great and definitely secure. The locker room is small and pretty bare bones but clean. The guy working there seemed friendly.

Jeffery, the plan is to connect the Little Miami trail all along the river through Downtown and further west. It would also connect with the Mill Creek Greenway, which currently has a segment open by Camp Washington, Northside, Spring Grove Village.

 

Really glad you've embraced cycling. Did the Occupy movement have any influence on that?

My understanding is that the re-striping of Riverside (or at least the preparation thereof) is already underway, in a one-mile section leading west from the base of Delta Ave.  I chatted with some people close to Queen City Bike on a ride last weekend.  If I have my details correct, from the north side of the street to the south, there will be a parking lane, westbound bike lane, westbound traffic lane, eastbound traffic lane, and finally eastbound bike lane.  The traffic lanes will also be narrower for calming.  It'll be done in sections to get drivers, residents, and cyclists used to the idea.  If you drive on Riverside you might see some preliminary surveying-type markings and areas highlighted for repair.

 

That was last Friday, so perhaps it's further along by now.

 

EDIT: Now I see Cygnus' post, which makes most of mine redundant.  My understanding is no center turn lane, though, but a lane for parking instead.  We'll see what the final outcome is though.

I was on Kellogg Ave. Monday and noticed the lane reconfiguration over the Little Miami has started. 

 

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/pages/-45949-/

Those ramps to Salem are very dangerous for cyclists who are riding through on Kellogg.  It's good to see some calming and reconfiguring going on here, though it would be nice if something could be done to mitigate the danger of the eastbound ramp.  I'm not really sure what could be done for that though. 

Man I would be so pumped if they get bike lanes on Riverside to DT.  That would essentially connect DT to Lunken and ultimately the Little Miami trail.  Lots of bikers are currently using Riverside but the traffic is so heavy during rush hour which makes it pretty dangerous...I'll have to pay attention as I drive Riverside each day.

Did the Occupy movement have any influence on that?

 

In a negative way.

 

This is kind of personal, but I got really turned off on activism and politics and "political people" via Occupy (I tend to be a loner and a contrarian anyway), and my embrace of cycling was that it was something I could do that didnt involve "people" ....the same the way I got back into hiking, esp longer distance hiking and walking (if im in the city).  A solitary activity...like the song goes: "I am my own ragged company"...spending time outdoors and by myself and tuning out political and cultural things.... 

 

The other motivation was to get serious about being car-light, and using RTA to get around town and to work.  Since RTA is so infrequent it made sense to save time by using the bike instead of waiting for busses, and that it brought some grocery shopping options out here in suburbia a lot closer in travel time.

 

The "sunday drive" bike path cycling i'm doing now is sort of a new thing, more a recreation thing,  not really why I got the bike.  But it's opened up possibilities...

 

@@@

Jeffery, the plan is to connect the Little Miami trail all along the river through Downtown and further west. It would also connect with the Mill Creek Greenway, which currently has a segment open by Camp Washington, Northside, Spring Grove Village.

 

Very cool!  Biking from Northside downtown would be neat.  For me it would be tough to do this by going "over the top" via Clifton and UC, so this valley route would be more possible for me, personally (older 50 something not particularly fit dude)

 

I should say that earlier in the year when I was spending more time walking around Cincy I walked all the way a long the river from Tusculum/Alms Park to, say, "Fulton", beyond that church with the clock on the river...not as far as downtown, though....and noticed a LOT of people cycling that stretch (this was on a Sunday).  I figured that's how they would bring the bike path from the Little Miami into the city.  I think that would be "Riverside Avenue"?

 

AND, on the way back from a hike to Buzzards Roost Rock, I drove downtown via that Little Miami River valley by way of Newtown, I think, and noticed how congested it was...thinking they would have to really do something as it wasnt safe for road-side bike  traffic....

 

 

Those ramps to Salem are very dangerous for cyclists who are riding through on Kellogg.  It's good to see some calming and reconfiguring going on here, though it would be nice if something could be done to mitigate the danger of the eastbound ramp.  I'm not really sure what could be done for that though. 

 

I suspect that when the Ohio River Trail is completed east of Salem to connect with the isolated section in Anderson Twp. by Riverbend, that there will be little concern for that ramp since cyclists will most likely opt for the path in lieu of Eastern.

Those ramps to Salem are very dangerous for cyclists who are riding through on Kellogg.  It's good to see some calming and reconfiguring going on here, though it would be nice if something could be done to mitigate the danger of the eastbound ramp.  I'm not really sure what could be done for that though. 

 

I suspect that when the Ohio River Trail is completed east of Salem to connect with the isolated section in Anderson Twp. by Riverbend, that there will be little concern for that ramp since cyclists will most likely opt for the path in lieu of Eastern.

 

Some will, but the ones who already ride out that way now probably won't, especially with the trail being on the wrong side of the street for going east. 

I wonder how it will proceed eastward from Salem. There is a significant hill on the northern slope. I suspect that Eastern could be narrowed to two-lanes, eliminating the useless climbing lane.

 

By the way, preliminary guide lines have been installed, along with the grinding of the existing thermoplastic road markings, for the bike lanes on Riverside Drive from at least Delta westward to a point near Foster. The lanes end around that point, so I'm not sure if they are going to do a repaving after more Duke Energy work is completed west of that towards downtown.

Jeffery, it's Riverside Drive. They are putting bike lanes on the street there, but the actual Ohio River Trail is going to be separate from that. (Sherman and jjakucyk are discussing just this.)

 

The trail is going slooooowly, but every few months they open up a new small section. Same with the Mill Creek Greenway, which is going even slower. Wish these projects had a donor!

Near unanimous Cincy Council wants Riverside project to proceed

 

Eight Cincinnati Council Members are ready to tell city administrators not to delay a plan to reconfigure Riverside Drive in the East End to include bicycle lanes.

 

Cont

 

This appears to be proceeding. On the evening of 07/16, a construction vehicle was out grinding up the double yellow line and white lane markers from the Delta Ave. intersection west to Pittsburg St. I was on that stretch again yesterday and there are a lot of temporary lines that would indicate a two lane road with a center turn lane and bike lanes on either side.

 

There is a sign up indicating one lane of traffic in each direction begins August 7th.

 

My understanding is no center turn lane, though, but a lane for parking instead.  We'll see what the final outcome is though.

 

That very well could be. With the remains of the lines that were removed, temporary lane markers, and the markings for the future lanes, it's really hard to get a sense of what's to come.

Yeah, it goes (from north to south) westbound bike lane, westbound vehicle lane, eastbound vehicle lane, eastbound bike lane, permanent parking lane. 

Is it known how far west this will continue? I'm curious about parking in the area by Montgomery Inn. It's common here to see no parking available on the north side of the street. So much so that people regularly park in front of hydrants and in the bus stop zones. Move a little further west and you've got parking meters in front of Adams Place.

 

And the speeding in this area, especially when it's two lanes in the morning, is ridiculous. Not sure how bikers do it...

Right now it only goes as far west as Corbin. 

Correct... it will move west in phases. I've just not seen how far west.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong here, but as I understand, it will continue in one mile segments west at a time. Supposed to help with drivers get acclimated to the lane changes.

I am going to post this is many areas as it involves many facets of transportation:

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/SPR/StatewidePlanning/access.ohio/Pages/default.aspx?utm_source=Greater+Ohio+Supporters&utm_campaign=e90e3eca0e-July_2011_Newsletter4_29_2011&utm_medium=email

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong here, but as I understand, it will continue in one mile segments west at a time. Supposed to help with drivers get acclimated to the lane changes.

 

Probably makes sense. I was thrown off by it this morning as I was out of town last week.  Had no idea it went down to one lane. I love the idea of a bike lane but one lane traffic there is going to make things very slow during the morning and evening commutes.

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong here, but as I understand, it will continue in one mile segments west at a time. Supposed to help with drivers get acclimated to the lane changes.

 

they are following the duke work that's going on in the street. by next spring they will have a bike lane from the end of TMBIFP to the Ohio river trailhead

I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong here, but as I understand, it will continue in one mile segments west at a time. Supposed to help with drivers get acclimated to the lane changes.

 

Probably makes sense. I was thrown off by it this morning as I was out of town last week.  Had no idea it went down to one lane. I love the idea of a bike lane but one lane traffic there is going to make things very slow during the morning and evening commutes.

 

Like someone else posted at the Enquirer, it doesn't. It slows traffic down - which is a huge plus as the speed limit is 35 MPH whereas traffic was moving at a much faster pace than that, and it adds additional capacity for cyclists. Someone was ranting about how it was going to be doom and gloom for traffic after games and for rush hour, neglecting to mention Columbia Parkway and Interstates 471-275.

 

So I biked it - at rush hour and after two Red's games. And sat there and waited. It wasn't congested, traffic was moving much slower and there were many happy cyclists that whizzed by in their own lane. Instead of occupying up a lane and then having to merge into another lane to go around parked cars, cyclists - on one of the busiest cycling routes in the city, finally have an easier and safer way of reaching downtown from the east side (and vice versa).

 

The "phases" are because Duke still has utility work to do along the western part of the ride. the started the first phase now because council & cyclists said said dont wait and it also allows for people toget used to it and start commuting on Columbia instead of a more neighborhood oriented street.

...but one lane traffic there is going to make things very slow during the morning and evening commutes.

 

Good! As others have already pointed out, traffic goes well over the posted 35 MPH. The best example of this can be found at the curve near Riverside & Adams Crossing. It's dangerous to cross the street as well as turn on to/off of Riverside at this point.

 

Unfortunately, the current plan ends at Bains St. and won't address speeding further west. I'm sure this is because Montgomery Inn doesn't want to lose free street parking for it's employees and patrons who don't want to pay for their valet parking.

^at that point you can jump on the trail in TMBIFP. There's one more connection that needs to be made around the Boathouse to Sawyer Point then it'll go all the way to PBS.

True. Current set-up though will make that a little difficult. One will need to exit the ending bike lane to make a left hand turn into the park entrance at the Bains St. intersection. Not a great option during morning rush hour. Immediately after turning you'd need to get off the bike to get under the railroad crossing gate before getting onto the trail.

Good grief this was the easiest street to bike in the city before these lanes and we've got people getting fussy. 

It's easy if you're the type of person who doesn't care about bike lanes or separated paths or anything like that, but for the other 99% of the population it might just as well be I-75. 

So when are they going to complete the striping? The temporary striping is already getting faded and hard to see. The intersection at Delta and Riverside and at Stanley and Riverside is a mess. I have witnessed almost three accidents happening because of the incomplete lanes and lanes just ending with no notice.

This week, most likely. They have to come out with the jumbo thermoplastic striping machines to lay down the permanent markings. I wouldn't sy the markings are incomplete, but the tapers at both ends could be improved since it just dumps you out into the right lane without notice. When me and Jeffrey biked it going eastbound, the lane ended at the Riverside Academy and we hopped onto the parallel Ohio River Trail (bike path) - although the transition in both directions is not seamless or obvious.

 

Another instance of where the taper is poor is Central Parkway's lanes going northbound at the viaduct. THe bike lane ends at the crest of the hill - actually ending at the intersection, which funnels cyclists into the right lane of traffic in the middle of an intersection.

 

--

 

Some other news of note:

 

• Erie Avenue from Delta to Marburg in Hyde Park will be resurfaced this year. The road will be on a diet, going to one lane in each direction, with a center turn lane, bike lanes and parking. The goal is to not only slow traffic, but to improve safety for motorists and cyclists, and to reduce collisions on the problematic hill by the police station.
  
• Spring Grove will be resurfaced from the S-curve by the viaduct north to Mill Creek, and will include bike lanes. It gets a little shifty by the CSX/NS underpass, where there will be a bike lane southbound but a shared lane northbound (and a ramp to the sidewalk). It doesn't seem they will be improving the awful and awkward connection in the Mill Creek Trail at Mill Creek.