Jane's been stopping by...

 

 

City seeks $56 million to extend streetcar line

Written by Jane Prendergast

 

Cincinnati, fresh off its Election Day win for the streetcar, now hopes for $56 million more from the federal government to restore the full project from the riverfront to Uptown.

 

City officials should learn next month if they get the money from the U.S. Department of Transportation. If they do, the plan is to restore the part of the streetcar line that would extend from Findlay Market to Uptown, the area around the University of Cincinnati and hospitals. That part was cut from the original plans after the state withdrew nearly $52 million in funding in the spring after the Republican administration took over the statehouse.

 

Much of the work to prepare for the full route was completed before the funding was yanked, so “we feel like the project’s got a lot of appeal from a project readiness standpoint,” said Chris Eilerman, project manager. “It would be great for us.”

 

Cont

Those Prendergast's sure are smart people for visiting UO. ;-) But I don't think she's related.

As for the political climate, public support for rail development in Cincinnati was reaffirmed twice at the ballot box. Others have mentioned Mayor Mallory and the middle finger that this grant would raise to Kasich. And then there's a supportive City Council. If these facts regarding the political climate are conveyed to the Obama Administration, I think that improves Cincinnati's chances greatly.

 

The climate is definitely changing . I can't tell you how many people I ran into from the suburbs and the city who are for light rail. 

 

If Cincinnati's 'Metromoves' plan from 2002 was on the ballot this election, it would be really really close.  People see headlines like this and get scared (Rightfully so)

 

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_northern_kentucky/gas-prices-poised-to-rise-once-again

 

'Gas prices poised to rise once again'

 

'Gas prices at all time highs for November'

http://moneyland.time.com/2011/11/15/gas-prices-sit-at-all-time-high-prices-for-this-time-of-year/

Winning this grant and completing the uptown and riverfront segments would also be a satisfying political middle finger to Kasich on the eve of a presidential election year in an important swing state.

 

For the same reason Kasich thought it was a good idea to yank the funding (rallying political support from his base), it's politically smart for the Obama administration to reinstate the funding. Cincinnati is an important city to both parties, on the state and the federal level.

 

So goes Cincinnati, so goes Ohio, so goes the country. The premiere bellwether city of perhaps the premiere bellwether state.

^ Wish this were so, natininja: wish this were so...

Has anyone heard when a ground breaking may take place?  I know John said that they might start moving power lines as early as december/january.  Any word on this?  I can't wait to be at that ceremony!

I hope Councilman Sittenfeld DOES NOT show up, but I'd bet money that he does stand there, smiling with a shovel even though he basically ran his entire campaign refusing to take a stance on the streetcar.

Anyone have any idea what the chances are for Cincy winning?

 

^ Slightly better than excellent.

Those Prendergast's sure are smart people for visiting UO. ;-) But I don't think she's related.

 

That's not true.  She refuses to let me follow her on Twitter because I put "too many personal issues" posts on Twitter.  Even though that was 2009.  Still won't let me follow her.  Which begs the question: If she doesn't like what I post, why can't I follow her?  She doesn't have to follow me back!

 

Oh yeah, and her hair looks like she styles it with a rake.

I just worry about how many projects are applying for this particular grant package.  Everyone, hit everyone involved to make sure the horrible decision by Kasich on TRAC is ameliorated.

 

Hopefully groundbreaking is after January 1.  I don't have any vacation time left. 

Those Prendergast's sure are smart people for visiting UO. ;-) But I don't think she's related.

 

That's not true.  She refuses to let me follow her on Twitter because I put "too many personal issues" posts on Twitter.  Even though that was 2009.  Still won't let me follow her.  Which begs the question: If she doesn't like what I post, why can't I follow her?  She doesn't have to follow me back!

 

Oh yeah, and her hair looks like she styles it with a rake.

 

Props for bringing that comment full circle.

Anyone have any idea what the chances are for Cincy winning?

 

^ Slightly better than excellent.

 

There's only one thing better than that. And that's the fact that if we win, Cincy builds a streetcar system, and if we don't, Cincy builds a streetcar system.

 

 

John S,

 

Are there any suggestions for citizen input?  Anyone you suggest we email, etc. While I agree it's likely we would get it, I wouldn't want to get complacent-

 

I'm sure we could get 50-100 people to send in letters etc.

I had been hearing that I-74 has been backing up to North Bend Rd. regularly for the past few years, then finally saw it with my own eyes driving the opposite direction at 7:30am last week.  It appears that the proliferation of hillside condo complexes at Rybolt and the growing popularity of Harrison is responsible.  The dillema is would the I-74 light rail line proposed as part of the Metro Moves plan simply encourage more sprawl?  The function of such a line would be much different than a I-75 line, since that line would have a significant amount of reverse commuters and heavier off-peak usage.  Also, there is almost no hope for walkability around either the North Bend or Rybolt stations.

I've been wondering how feasible it would be to reactivate the old CSX line through the West Side. I know some parts of that right-of-way have been redeveloped, but I wonder if the cost of acquiring those properties would still be less than building an entirely new ROW. It would also have the benefit of putting stations in locations that are much more walkable.

 

And since we're talking about future light rail plans, I raised a question on the Uptown Access Project thread that hasn't gotten a response: Is it just me, or does it seem like all the proposed schemes for the I-71/MLK interchange involve demolishing a portion of the CL&N right-of-way and preventing future light rail on that line?

The media frankly doesn't have an interest in covering these grants. If they admitted that the streetcar was being funded by grants specific to rail transportation, they would have to admit that funding is NOT coming from the city's operating fund. Then, they would no longer be able to present a false dilemma about whether the city will build a streetcar or pay for police and firefighters.

 

As much as I like to dislike the Enquirer, they do cover pretty much everything that happens with the streetcar: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111115/NEWS0108/311150110/-56M-sought-extend-streetcar. They may not have the writing force of 10 years ago, but they do hit up the major events.

 

@Jake: No hope for walkability around North Bend, but it can be a decent park-and-ride area that could alleviate I-74's problems. Widening I-74 to three lanes from I-75 to North Bend is not cheap because of the topography, and would likely be fought by environmentalists due to the West Fork watershed and the passage through the park.

 

I had the pleasure of taking I-74 from North Bend to downtown and Xavier today. While it was not backed up to the top of the hill at 8 AM, I have witnessed where a simple shoulder car breakdown can queue traffic to the top of the hill. It doesn't take much. The ramp traffic lights have helped, but traffic now queues behind the lights instead of at the ramp merge.

I encourage light rail discussions to be posted in the Cincy rapid transit thread....

 

Beyond the Streetcar: The Future of Rail Transit in Cincinnati

 

(updated the URL to the newly-merged topic)

Did anyone see this article about OTR development? http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111115/BIZ01/111160317&Ref=AR

Of course, the comments section lit up with comments about the streetcar, even though it wasn't even mentioned in the article. 

 

Then, of course, the enquirer had to put this article right next to it on the front page of the website: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111116/EDIT02/311160095

 

It was pretty funny though, one of the commentors simply pasted a link to a site called "White People Problems"  I've been cracking up reading through this website at work all day.  http://whitepeopleproblems.us/

The OTR rehab story was on the front page.  But like I've been saying, The Enquirer occasionally prints a positive story, but not in the numbers necessary to change public opinion.  The perfect case in point was that opinion column, which sprawled across the top of the editorial page.

 

Honestly I have no idea how they even come up with these ideas, which makes me think they're coming from something outside the paper.   

I had been hearing that I-74 has been backing up to North Bend Rd. regularly for the past few years, then finally saw it with my own eyes driving the opposite direction at 7:30am last week.  It appears that the proliferation of hillside condo complexes at Rybolt and the growing popularity of Harrison is responsible.  The dillema is would the I-74 light rail line proposed as part of the Metro Moves plan simply encourage more sprawl?  The function of such a line would be much different than a I-75 line, since that line would have a significant amount of reverse commuters and heavier off-peak usage.  Also, there is almost no hope for walkability around either the North Bend or Rybolt stations.

 

The Rybolt Road development certainly added some traffic volume but I-74 has been backing up since long before the Rybolt Road development. I-74 carries hardly any commercial traffic or through traffic to Indianapolis, and it is wide open at all times except the morning rush hour. It is dominated by commuters, about 2/3 of which head south on I-75 and 1/3 head north. The high proportion of drivers who enter I-74 and shift two lanes left to exit at I-75 north cause a bottleneck that backs up traffic. Rear-end accidents are common, backing up traffic even more. It is common for traffic to back up from I-75 to North Bend and beyond.

 

Queen City Metro bus 74 (appropriately named) has a healthy ridership consisting mostly of commuters who park at one of several park and ride lots.

 

Any proposed rail transit to the west-side beyond North Bend is probably based on political reasons rather than technical ones. I can think of a few routes that may be candidates for new bus routes, but the volume isn't high enough to justify rail transit.

 

Jake, if you haven't been to Ruey's Woods off of Rybolt Road, you ought to go check it out. It's a new residential development built within the last 15 years that has surprising high density. Most of the standard zoning laws were thrown out in the interest of preserving wooded hillsides.

 

Did anyone see this article about OTR development? http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111115/BIZ01/111160317&Ref=AR

Of course, the comments section lit up with comments about the streetcar, even though it wasn't even mentioned in the article. 

 

Then, of course, the enquirer had to put this article right next to it on the front page of the website: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111116/EDIT02/311160095

 

It was pretty funny though, one of the commentors simply pasted a link to a site called "White People Problems"  I've been cracking up reading through this website at work all day.  http://whitepeopleproblems.us/

 

This is what keeps deep-sixing the Enquirers credibility. They bleat indignantly that they are a fair and professional example of journalism. But they are just a media company that needs to sell papers in the suburbs to survive, so they are literally incapable of publishing a story about city development without adding a little story to pinch the city in the ass at the same time.

 

That's fine, they can do that if they need to sell papers. But there's no way anyone will take them seriously.

I read awhile back that the Enquirer will change from anonymous comments to facebook comments.  That should eliminate some of the crackpots

 

I would imagine though if they are that determined to create different accounts,  they will just create fake facebook accounts

 

 

 

For all of the Enquirer bashing on this thread, I just wanted to point out that the Enquirer invested in a new building downtown when they could have moved to a suburban office park.

 

For all of the Enquirer bashing on this thread, I just wanted to point out that the Enquirer invested in a new building downtown when they could have moved to a suburban office park.

 

But, like most news organizations, they want to be centrally located within the metro and close to where the news happens. Frankly, in this metro, the majority of news, sports and entertainment takes place in or within a few miles of downtown. It is by no accident that the Enquirer, City Beat and Channels 5, 9, 12 and 19 are all clustered in or around downtown. And WLW used to be right there too, perched in Mount Adams before leaving for a cheaper building in Kenwood.

 

In Denver it's the same way, with the Post and TV stations within a mile or two of one another in the downtown core area.

 

Dayton seems to be the exception to this rule, with Channel 7 in Kettering, Channel 2 in Moraine, the Dayton Daily News in Springboro (though they maintain a newsroom presence downtown), and Channels 22/45 God knows where.

^Not entirely true. Have you looked at Cox Media Group - based in Liberty Township in suburban northern Cincinnati?

http://www.cmgohio.com/?x=markets/cinci_overview

 

They own:

Dayton Daily News

Springfield News-Sun

Middletown Journal

Hamilton Journal News

Pulse Journal

Fairfield Echo

Western Star

Oxford Press

 

It looks like the Springfield newspaper has been moved out of their downtown location. Not sure of Dayton, but their large printing center is located south of Austin Pike in the suburbs. Middletown doesn't have a centrally located newspaper base, IIRC.

 

I read awhile back that the Enquirer will change from anonymous comments to facebook comments.  That should eliminate some of the crackpots

 

I would imagine though if they are that determined to create different accounts,  they will just create fake facebook accounts

 

This is a potential Gannett move. It's easier to regulate comments on a Facebook platform than a separate system.

 

For all of the Enquirer bashing on this thread, I just wanted to point out that the Enquirer invested in a new building downtown when they could have moved to a suburban office park.

 

Irrelevant. It doesn't matter what the Enquirer itself wants or believes. That's the point. I just want them to write intelligent, well written and topical stories. Covering a project by 3CDC and in the same page linking a ridiculous op-ed about some guy who moved downtown and didn't like the noise from the garbage man is craven. If they are finding that they can't be a viable operation without cowing to this kind of stuff then their time has past.

^I have a feeling that the Enquirer is going to continue to publish newspapers as long as it is profitable. If they want to publish ridiculous op-eds, that is their choice.

 

I don't think that all of this Enquirer bashing is helping out the streetcar cause.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dayton seems to be the exception to this rule, with Channel 7 in Kettering, Channel 2 in Moraine, the Dayton Daily News in Springboro (though they maintain a newsroom presence downtown), and Channels 22/45 God knows where.

 

The Dayton Daily News AND Channel 7 (WHIO) are BOTH in the city limits of Dayton in the Cox Media Building on Main Street, south of the fairgrounds.  The building in Springboro is actually just a printing plant.

Looks like the lawsuit against COAST was tossed out again. 

 

Mark Miller gloating on twitter about how everything he has tweeted has been true. 

 

I asked him about the 'Streetcar is worse than 9/11' tweet.  I'm Sure I'll get the typical response from him.  Nothing

Oh well... we still won the election.

^Not entirely true. Have you looked at Cox Media Group - based in Liberty Township in suburban northern Cincinnati?

http://www.cmgohio.com/?x=markets/cinci_overview

It looks like the Springfield newspaper has been moved out of their downtown location.

Where are you seeing Springfield News Sun has moved? Looks like at least the advertising is still 202 N. Limestone.

Assuming printing is in Dayton.....

Did anyone see this article about OTR development? http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111115/BIZ01/111160317&Ref=AR

Of course, the comments section lit up with comments about the streetcar, even though it wasn't even mentioned in the article.

CPO ran a similar article. People are furious.

Looks like the lawsuit against COAST was tossed out again. 

 

Mark Miller gloating on twitter about how everything he has tweeted has been true. 

 

I asked him about the 'Streetcar is worse than 9/11' tweet.  I'm Sure I'll get the typical response from him.  Nothing

 

Apparently, there is some bill floating around that would make it illegal to lie on the internet also with much broader implications than lying about the streetcar on Tweeter.

Looks like the lawsuit against COAST was tossed out again. 

 

Mark Miller gloating on twitter about how everything he has tweeted has been true. 

 

I asked him about the 'Streetcar is worse than 9/11' tweet.  I'm Sure I'll get the typical response from him.  Nothing

 

Ya- It really was a stupid idea to sue over that.  Any sort of minor technicality- if literally $1 of general fund money had gone to ANYTHING even slightly streetcar related, his statements would be technically true- and therefore the lawsuit would be thrown out and he could claim victory.  Considering it was filed only about 10 days before the election, I think it was done simply to get some earned media on behalf of CFP.

 

Oh well... we still won the election.

 

True. I'd rather it pan out like this than the way it did in 2002, when our side lost the election but got a symbolic victory against Stephan Louis that ultimately amounted to nothing. COAST can continue screaming and stomping their feet like the spoiled-rotten brats they are, but they aren't going to stop the streetcar project from moving forward.

Steve chabot and dan carroll talking streetcar on 700wlw. Said the feds will never give 56 mil "to this rathole".

 

Carroll still claiming no one wants it. Asks if city hall is listening. After the election results, its probably wiser to ask if he is listening

Ya-- I REALLY can't understand anyone who says, "Cincinnati doesn't want a streetcar" after they ELECTED 6 STREETCAR SUPPORTERS and kicked off 4 streetcar opponents and voted down issue 48.

 

 

Yeah, 700 was just insinuating that this grant is necessary because costs are escalating.  Chabot also sez he's sponsoring a bill that would force federal funds rejected by states to pay off the deficit instead of being shifted to other states.  He also insinuated that the TRAC III funds were the same as the funds de-allocated by TRAC, which is not true. He can only get away with that because the dollar figures are similar and because the host is really that stupid. 

Steve chabot and dan carroll talking streetcar on 700wlw. Said the feds will never give 56 mil "to this rathole".

 

Carroll still claiming no one wants it. Asks if city hall is listening. After the election results, its probably wiser to ask if he is listening

 

Didn't the feds already "give" $56 million for the "rathole", only to have it taken away by Kasich?

^Kasich revoked $52M in State funds. The Feds awarded a $25M Urban Circulator Grant to the City.

 

Chabot also sez he's sponsoring a bill that would force federal funds rejected by states to pay off the deficit instead of being shifted to other states.

 

H.R.1345 was submitted April 4th: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.1345:

Boise,Id got 60 million. Why not Cincinnati. I can't wait to vote these people out.

Ya-- I REALLY can't understand anyone who says, "Cincinnati doesn't want a streetcar" after they ELECTED 6 STREETCAR SUPPORTERS and kicked off 4 streetcar opponents and voted down issue 48.

 

 

 

This is all true.. just wanted to add to that by saying that the issue was only defeated by maybe a 3.5% gap or so. I voted down issue 48 as well.. but we can't exactly claim that there is an overwhelming majority based on those results.

 

So the question "does Cincinnati want THAT streetcar" is a valid one. The answer is "they dont want to ban rail for 10 years".. but sadly its not a very solid opinion.

 

 

 

At a business dinner the other day, someone mentioned the streetcar. Here's what I heard:

 

"They want to spend $2 billion on the streetcar."

"The city already spent $7 million on the streetcar."

"I try to keep an open mind about it, but it just isn't safe down there. And I work downtown!"

 

 

Steve chabot and dan carroll talking streetcar on 700wlw. Said the feds will never give 56 mil "to this rathole".

 

Who is quoted?

Steve chabot and dan carroll talking streetcar on 700wlw. Said the feds will never give 56 mil "to this rathole".

 

Who is quoted?

 

I heard it as well.  The rathole comment was The host Dan Carroll

 

Chabot said the feds will never give the streetcar the 56 mil

More accurately, Chabot complained that "this is all so complicated", then proceeded to further confuse the public.

 

At a business dinner the other day, someone mentioned the streetcar. Here's what I heard:

 

"They want to spend $2 billion on the streetcar."

"The city already spent $7 million on the streetcar."

"I try to keep an open mind about it, but it just isn't safe down there. And I work downtown!"

 

 

 

Typical Cincinnati ignorance.  This is what keeps us 10 years behind the rest of the world.  We can thank WLW and the Enquirer for giving these people their ignorant numbers. 

BTW for those of you that actually listen to 700WLW, please tell me you are taking the time to call into these shows and protest the ridiculous lies they are spewing everyday.  Because, if you're not calling in and at least trying to complain once in awhile to these morons, what's the point in listening?  You know they constantly lie and mislead, but if you're not going to try to do something about it you might as well stop wasting your time listening to garbage radio.  You should just turn on some music and enjoy your day:)

^Agree, I haven't listened to 700 or bought an enquirer in over three years.  The constant negativity and lies about the city that they bombard their listeners and readers with is really starting to show in the ratings and sales every year.  It says something when a station that "was" as powerful as 700 is now behind a country music station (B105).  The sooner these two companies die, the better!!  The truth will set you free!