^I completely agree. I live a few houses north of the intersection on Clifton, and my housemate got hit by a car just yesterday. Completely trashed his bicycle. No one ever stops when I'm crossing there, as if it's their God-given right to cruise through those right-hand turn lanes without looking. I hate it.

 

They are pretty horrible.  BUT in the new plan, they will be 3 times larger than the current ones.  Honestly, I think there should be a large metal bollard at all three corners of each one.  Remember that a UC student was killed while standing on one of those a few years ago?

 

The continuous right turn is the problem, not the size of the islands. (the worst one is at taft and vine)

EXCLUSIVE: Cincinnati backs out of bike grant, $4.3 million headed back to Columbus

Nov 3, 2014, 4:21pm EST

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

The city of Cincinnati withdrew its application for a $4.3 million federal grant to build another segment of the Ohio River bike trail, money that will now be returned to the state to reallocate.

 

The city's transportation director, Michael Moore, sent a letter to Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments executive director Mark Policinski on Thursday backing out of Cincinnati's grant application after the City Council ordered him to focus on building a bike trail along the Oasis Rail Line.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/11/03/exclusive-cincinnati-backs-out-of-bike-grant-4-3.html

Wouldn't the Oasis trail connect to the Lunken Airport trail? Why has there been a plan to do both? (Isn't that redundant?) It seems like the Oasis trail is easier/cheaper to build close to downtown, but both run pretty close to each other, so they could just be connected at the end of the current "Ohio River Trail"...yeah?

 

The bottom line to me is git 'er dun. Why does this have to take forever? (I know: money. But it should carry higher priority than it obviously does.) Get the Mill Creek trail finished, too. The snail's pace on these bike trails is ridiculous. If Cranley wants to focus on trails instead of in-street facilities, he has some extremely low-hanging-fruit to pick from.

Just keep in mind that when a rail corridor is converted to a bike trail, there is almost no chance of it being converted back to a rail corridor some day. So perhaps this is being pushed through as a way to prevent the proposed Eastern Corridor commuter rail plan from happening. The fact that this proposal came out of nowhere and got support from a supermajority of council, despite the fact that it meant forfeiting a $4.3 million grant, has me a little concerned.

It could be a push to have some level of government buy out that operation next to the Boathouse, then sell it to the Bortz family for $1.  I mean, we already give away the parking revenue from the city-owned Montgomery Inn lot to the Gregory's, so why not?

They will do Whatever is politically advantageous under the leadership of John cranley, Christopher smitherma and Harry black.

 

With this group politics trumps all

Just keep in mind that when a rail corridor is converted to a bike trail, there is almost no chance of it being converted back to a rail corridor some day. So perhaps this is being pushed through as a way to prevent the proposed Eastern Corridor commuter rail plan from happening. The fact that this proposal came out of nowhere and got support from a supermajority of council, despite the fact that it meant forfeiting a $4.3 million grant, has me a little concerned.

 

Eastern Corridor rail isn't happening anyway. I agree this sort of came out of nowhere, though. And if the Oasis trail can be connected to what exists, it could also be connected to what would exist if this money were spent. We would definitely have benefited from some public debate on this and having all options, challenges, grant stipulations, etc., made explicit.

 

Does anyone know how the 7-1 vote broke down? Who was against and who was absent (or abstained, but I'm guessing absent)?

The proposal, though, was not to eliminate all of the rail. There is plenty in the right-of-way to have both a 10' trail and tracks - at least from their early proposals. It was double tracked at one point - and aerials make it out to be three- and four-tracked in some areas.

 

Ideally, the Oasis line would make for a better connected trail on the western and eastern ends. The western end links directly to the trail running through Sawyer Point; the eastern end connects to the Ohio River Trail at Carrel Street. As much as the Ohio River option is nice - for the scenic aspects, you would need to acquire land along the river to build expensive retaining walls and to raise the elevation of the path to prevent some flooding. It also is not nearly as direct - the trail meanders all about Turkey Ridge Park and elsewhere as well.

Is the Oasis line the same thing as the Wasson Way?

Once they reach Mariemont, yes. Before that (in Cincinnati proper), no.

 

Louisville now has an underground mountain biking park:

http://www.team-awesome.cc/neon-velo/louisville-mega-caverns/

That's crazy.

Red bike in NKY?

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/11/20/red-bike-nky/70016140/

^Yes please!

A couple docking stations in Newport and a couple in Covington to start would be great, both are perfect distances for renting a bike for a short ride. Me and my friends have walked from CBD to Haufbrau and while its certainly do-able, its a solid distance. Being able to hop on a bike back and forth would definitely be convenient.

It will be in Covington, Newport and Bellevue if the sponsorship $$ falls into place.

According to the current leaderboard, at least 3 of the top 6  RedBikers are UOers

I don't understand why people who own their own bikes are using this service so much.  It's like owning nice roller skates but renting cheap skates at the rink or owning a custom-drilled bowling ball but using the chipped-up ill-fitting balls at the alley.   

I don't understand why people who own their own bikes are using this service so much.  It's like owning nice roller skates but renting cheap skates at the rink or owning a custom-drilled bowling ball but using the chipped-up ill-fitting balls at the alley. 

 

There are so many times when a Red Bike is more convenient than using my own bike. In downtown and around UC, I often don't have my own bike with me, but Red Bike allows me to hop around quickly. So, so helpful.

I don't understand why people who own their own bikes are using this service so much.  It's like owning nice roller skates but renting cheap skates at the rink or owning a custom-drilled bowling ball but using the chipped-up ill-fitting balls at the alley.   

 

I use it all the time. I live in a four story walk up so carrying a bike up and down every day is annoying. There's a stop right next to my house, where I work and most places I go downtown. It's great for going to Reds or Football games. you bike down, ditch the bike and then if you and your friends go out for a beer after the game you don't have to haul your bike around all night with you. During the day, if i need to run some papers over to a client or go notarize something, I can just hop on a redbike and head over there. When I go up to Clifton Heights, I'll often take a RedBike back down the hill. Another time I was going to short vine, but a 17 showed up right as I was stepping out of my door, I took it up the hill then redbiked over to Short Vine.

I don't understand why people who own their own bikes are using this service so much.  It's like owning nice roller skates but renting cheap skates at the rink or owning a custom-drilled bowling ball but using the chipped-up ill-fitting balls at the alley.   

 

If I'm biking from my house to somewhere and back, I'll use my own bike, but most of the time I walk or take the bus to class or work without my bike because I don't want to carry it around or lock it up and have to worry about it while working.  Then I'll use a Red Bike on my lunch break, or to go to the grocery store after work, or to go between classes, or to get to the coffee shop, etc.  I find all sorts of random excuses to ride. 

 

This morning I was in a good conversation on the phone with my boyfriend so I jumped on a bus.  Then when I got to work I found out that I needed to ride the streetcar route for a work-related project...so I checked out a Red Bike and rode the whole route.  After work (right about now) I'm going to check out a Red Bike at Aronoff and bike to Kroger on Vine St.  Then I'm going to take another Red Bike to Findlay Market and catch the bus home from there. 

 

Believe me...I was outspoken about how little I thought I'd use the system because of my three bikes at home.  I've been equally shocked.

Another example. I rode RedBike to Findlay Market, after that I went with some friends to grab a beer so I ended up walking.

I definitely find it to be a pain when I use my bike to get somewhere and then start going other places with people who don't have bikes. Just locking and unlocking, walking the bike, etc. gets tiresome. And then someone might want to drive somewhere, and instead of being dropped off at home you have to get dropped off at your bike or leave it overnight and risk it being stolen.

I don't understand why people who own their own bikes are using this service so much.  It's like owning nice roller skates but renting cheap skates at the rink or owning a custom-drilled bowling ball but using the chipped-up ill-fitting balls at the alley.   

 

If I'm biking from my house to somewhere and back, I'll use my own bike, but most of the time I walk or take the bus to class or work without my bike because I don't want to carry it around or lock it up and have to worry about it while working.  Then I'll use a Red Bike on my lunch break, or to go to the grocery store after work, or to go between classes, or to get to the coffee shop, etc.  I find all sorts of random excuses to ride. 

 

This morning I was in a good conversation on the phone with my boyfriend so I jumped on a bus.  Then when I got to work I found out that I needed to ride the streetcar route for a work-related project...so I checked out a Red Bike and rode the whole route.  After work (right about now) I'm going to check out a Red Bike at Aronoff and bike to Kroger on Vine St.  Then I'm going to take another Red Bike to Findlay Market and catch the bus home from there. 

 

Believe me...I was outspoken about how little I thought I'd use the system because of my three bikes at home.  I've been equally shocked.

 

I was also pretty cynical about this program when it first started up in Chicago too, because the yearly pass was so cheap I dived in, and I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon.  When I'm down in Cincy visiting family its been wonderful too, can't wait for them to expand to more of the city.

 

----

 

Also, gotta love how this article makes it look like Cranley was the guy who came up with this idea, what a load of bull: http://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/citywiseblog/red-bike-revolution/

 

 

Christopher Smitherman is introducing this motion asking the administration report on various aspects of the Central Parkway bike lanes:

 

MOTION, dated 1/14/2014 submitted by Councilmember Christopher Smitherman, I MOVE that the administration do a report on the bicycle lane on Central Parkway. The report should include how the bike lane has affected traffic peak hour parking and traffic congestion. I MOVE that the report include any impact the bike lane has on snow removal.

Christopher Smitherman is introducing this motion asking the administration report on various aspects of the Central Parkway bike lanes:

 

MOTION, dated 1/14/2014 submitted by Councilmember Christopher Smitherman, I MOVE that the administration do a report on the bicycle lane on Central Parkway. The report should include how the bike lane has affected traffic peak hour parking and traffic congestion. I MOVE that the report include any impact the bike lane has on snow removal.

 

Report would be a waste of time and money.

 

Also how can any conclusions be reached with everything still torn up and the Hopple St. exit still under construction? The bike lanes don't even extend to Ludlow as planned yet. 

 

As long as maximizing car thruput is our #1 priority our neighborhoods will remain desolate and blighted.

The city has been ignoring requests to sweep streets with bike lanes, especially Central Parkway and Spring Grove Avenue.  Central Parkway has been swamped with acorns since fall, and Spring Grove gravel and glass.  Requests by different parties to the City's service request system are being left unaddressed.  Smells like a deliberate mandate from on high to create a self-fulfilling problem. 

I rode Central Parkway today, and it was at least decently clean, but I'd say a good half of the plastic bollards are gone.  Southbound between Marshall and Linn there's only about a dozen left at all, but nearly all of the ones on the northbound side are still there.  From Linn south to Plum there's quite a few missing on both sides of the street, but not enough to make it wide open.  My guess would be some sort of installation problem with the glue they used rather than anything deliberate, but it was kind of disappointing. 

I wonder if DOTE has been instructed to remove the bollards that have been hit but not replace them.

They are looking for a new way to attach them.  The adhesive process they used clearly failed big time.  They are waiting until spring, as there is little use of the lanes right now anyway.  I believe they will be trying a different process including possibly bolting the base into the ground with a small anchor. 

 

They are looking for a new way to attach them.  The adhesive process they used clearly failed big time.  They are waiting until spring, as there is little use of the lanes right now anyway.  I believe they will be trying a different process including possibly bolting the base into the ground with a small anchor. 

 

 

Is there a way to just attach them with some sort of spring so they fall over and then spring back up?

Why not just add a curb and raise the lane? ;-)

Metro wants ideas for the Oasis bike trail

Feb 9, 2015, 3:03pm EST

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Metro's parent agency, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, wants the public to weigh in on a proposed bike and pedestrian trail along the Oasis Rail Line that will run near the Ohio River from Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse to Lunken Airport.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/09/metro-wants-ideas-for-the-oasis-bike-trail.html

Wow... 4-5 PM on a Friday in February. Terrible!

Red Bike expanding into Northern Kentucky

By ANN THOMPSON

 

The popular bike sharing program, Red Bike, operational in Cincinnati for four months, now has its sights on Covington, Newport and Bellevue.

 

Executive Director Jason Barron says Northern Kentucky residents are excited about the possibility and are trying to find the funding.

 

Barron has been busy scouting sites. He says, "We're hoping to be able to pull this off this summer sometime. And it's all going to depend on a couple of different factors: us raising the money; finding the stations; and the third piece is getting in the production schedule for the folks that actually make the stations."

 

In Cincinnati, Barron says the numbers are impressive:

• An average 75-100 riders per day
  
• 1,800 rides in January
  
• 17,000 rides in four months (mostly winter)
  

 

http://wvxu.org/post/red-bike-expanding-northern-kentucky-0

Those numbers make no sense.

 

If there were 17,000 riders over four months, that would mean there is an average of (17000rides / 4 months) / 30 days per month = 142 rides per day.

I rarely see anyone riding one of them near UC.  Like weeks go by without me seeing someone on one of the bikes.

The stations in Uptown are too few and far between. There are so many people up there who ride bikes yet, like you said, there are rarely people riding the Red Bikes. I think it's a lack of infrastructure that makes it worth it to students.

 

In the basin, however, I see people riding them all the time. This weekend was crazy. I was driving to my friend's place in Newport and decided to go the long/scenic route and drove over the Roebling Bridge. On my way from Race/15th to the riverfront I saw no less than a dozen people riding Red Bikes. And that was in a five or so minute timeframe.

 

I'm imagining those ridership numbers will increase dramatically in the warmer months and now that people have had time to buy passes.

Those numbers make no sense.

 

If there were 17,000 riders over four months, that would mean there is an average of (17000rides / 4 months) / 30 days per month = 142 rides per day.

 

Maybe the mean 142 rides per day by 75-100 riders, with most making at least two rides.

 

I agree that I don't see this in use much by UC, even when the weather was nicer. I'm curious to see if they catch on this spring, but I think most people are deterred by the hills. There's no discount for students is there?

The stations in Uptown are too few and far between. There are so many people up there who ride bikes yet, like you said, there are rarely people riding the Red Bikes. I think it's a lack of infrastructure that makes it worth it to students.

 

The locations around the university aren't ideal since they're all located around the periphery of campus... I wish they'd put a station right in the heart of main campus (near the rec center). I assume there's some hold up since it would be on UC property instead of city property, but they should figure out a way to make it work.

Those numbers make no sense.

 

If there were 17,000 riders over four months, that would mean there is an average of (17000rides / 4 months) / 30 days per month = 142 rides per day.

 

I'm not sure what aspect of the numbers you're questioning.  Those seem plausible to me.  I believe they have 275-300 total bikes right now.  Based on your math above, that means every bike has been getting ridden about once every two days.  The real numbers spike on the weekends and sag on weekdays, I'm sure.  We've had a relatively mild winter, so that number of rides doesn't  seem outlandish, unless I'm missing something.

These numbers make perfect sense to me. Remember that these are rack to rack trips. I often find myself checking out 4-6 bikes in one day just to hop between places in downtown. I just looked up my info on the RedBike leaderboard and I've checked out 18 bikes this month so far and I'm not even in the top 20 most frequent riders anymore.

I suppose the 75-100 riders per day is unique riders using the system, not trips. I was thinking it was trips/day.

I rarely see anyone riding one of them near UC.  Like weeks go by without me seeing someone on one of the bikes.

 

There needs to be stops ON campus, and more in places like Highland Ave (I really want to be able to take a bus up the hill then grab a bike and go to the Highland Cafe when I'm in town).  I'm also kind of hoping they put a few in Walnut Hills soon to allow for easier crosstown trips.

West Side bike trail lands $1.3M

Feb 11, 2015, 10:12am EST

Ruoxi Yang, UrbanCincy.com, Courier Contributor

 

River West Working Group has announced that the western leg of the Ohio River Trail through Cincinnati has been awarded a $1 million Federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality grant. An additional funding commitment of $261,000 from the city of Cincinnati's Bicycle Transportation Program brings the total to $1.3 million.

 

Project leaders say that the money will be put toward construction of the first phase of the bikeway and greenway project along Cincinnati's western riverfront.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/11/west-side-bike-trail-lands-1-3m.html

The stations in Uptown are too few and far between. There are so many people up there who ride bikes yet, like you said, there are rarely people riding the Red Bikes. I think it's a lack of infrastructure that makes it worth it to students.

 

In the basin, however, I see people riding them all the time. This weekend was crazy. I was driving to my friend's place in Newport and decided to go the long/scenic route and drove over the Roebling Bridge. On my way from Race/15th to the riverfront I saw no less than a dozen people riding Red Bikes. And that was in a five or so minute timeframe.

 

I'm imagining those ridership numbers will increase dramatically in the warmer months and now that people have had time to buy passes.

 

I haven't seen it reported anywhere, but Northside is apparently pretty close to finding funding for bringing RedBike to the neighborhood. Hopefully they do not make a mistake and only install one or two stations. To be successful, you need multiple stations along Hamilton Avenue, maybe one up by The Comet, and several in residential areas so that people can bike from home to the business district and vice versa.

West Side bike trail lands $1.3M

Feb 11, 2015, 10:12am EST

Ruoxi Yang, UrbanCincy.com, Courier Contributor

 

River West Working Group has announced that the western leg of the Ohio River Trail through Cincinnati has been awarded a $1 million Federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality grant. An additional funding commitment of $261,000 from the city of Cincinnati's Bicycle Transportation Program brings the total to $1.3 million.

 

Project leaders say that the money will be put toward construction of the first phase of the bikeway and greenway project along Cincinnati's western riverfront.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/02/11/west-side-bike-trail-lands-1-3m.html

 

I really hope this project can get done.  It would be really cool to be able to ride my bike from my house all the way to downtown. 

^Did you mean to post that link on a Cleveland biking thread?

^ I'm guessing that he did and went ahead and moved it.

 

Speak Up to Make Lorain Ave. Safer for Cyclists @Bike_CLE http://coolcleveland.com/blog/2015/02/speak-up-to-make-lorain-ave-safer-for-cyclists-bike_cle/ …

 

Oasis bike trail receives big boost

Jason Williams, [email protected] 8:33 p.m. EST March 6, 2015

 

 

The proposal to build an East Side recreation trail has received a major boost, but the project still faces some hurdles before you can jump on your bike and head Downtown.

 

A Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority subcommittee on Friday recommended converting part of the Oasis railway between Downtown and Lunken Airport into a bike and pedestrian trail – SORTA's first official position on the project.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/03/06/oasis-bike-trail-cincinnati/24498143/