How will streetcar effect traffic?  Naturally they go running to COAST for a comment to "balance" the article. The same COAST that implied the project is "Worse than 9/11"

 

 

http://m.fox19.com/autojuice?targetUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fox19.com%2fstory%2f23089611%2fexclusive-how-will-the-cincinnati-streetcar-affect-traffic

 

I like the absurdity of COAST's main criticism that the streetcar is "so poorly thought out." As if over the course of the past decade no one considered the fact that it will run on the streets in traffic.

 

They say the streetcar costs too much, but their suggestion that "A subway's underground. The L's aboveground not interfering with traffic." would cost an order of magnitude more.

It's kind of amazing that someone who has accomplished so little in his life as Tom Brinkman is sought out by a reporter for his opinion.

Well, he was chosen as the worst legislator in Ohio by Columbus Monthly one time.

And he got state money to buy grills for his neighborhood park.

For an article from fox, it was surprisingly positive I thought.  I didn't know that the streetcars would be getting a head-start green light at some of the intersections.

Makes me wonder what else I don't know about the project...

Will we be able to pay at each stop with a credit card or will we need to buy a pass or use cash?  I think for increasing usage, making payment with a credit/debit card at any stop or on any car will be essential.  The biggest reason I don't take the bus is because I never carry cash and I wouldn't even know where to go to buy a card.

How will streetcar effect traffic?  Naturally they go running to COAST for a comment to "balance" the article. The same COAST that implied the project is "Worse than 9/11"

 

 

http://m.fox19.com/autojuice?targetUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fox19.com%2fstory%2f23089611%2fexclusive-how-will-the-cincinnati-streetcar-affect-traffic

 

I like the absurdity of COAST's main criticism that the streetcar is "so poorly thought out." As if over the course of the past decade no one considered the fact that it will run on the streets in traffic.

 

They say the streetcar costs too much, but their suggestion that "A subway's underground. The L's aboveground not interfering with traffic." would cost an order of magnitude more.

 

Ah, so now we should take this statement as support for restoration of the subway? It should be portrayed as such.  :roll:

City: No, COAST, we won’t stop using $4m streetcar grant

 

City Solicitor John Curp says the city won’t stop using a $4 million federal grant given to SORTA for the streetcar project because state laws don’t govern what the federal government does with its money.

 

COAST attorney Chris Finney wrote what’s called a taxpayer demand letter to Curp in July asking that the solicitor seek an injunction to stop the use of $4 million in Congestion Management and Air Quality Improvement Program dollars.

 

You can read the letter here

In a large noisy crowd, probably nobody would hear the quiet electric streetcar coming. It would likely be a bloodbath.

 

Please get out and visit more parts of the USA and the world before making posts like this. In particular, visit areas where streetcars/trams operate in other crowded, urban settings. Then report back.

 

I'm fairly certain that Quimbob was being silly.  :-P

 

This one decision by a group of city leaders changed our city forever.

 

I-75 may have ended up in a different alignment, if the Rapid Transit right-of-way had not been available. Still, I wouldn't call it "one decision." The world is more complicated than that.

 

 

 

 

 

This one decision by a group of city leaders changed our city forever.

 

I-75 may have ended up in a different alignment, if the Rapid Transit right-of-way had not been available. Still, I wouldn't call it "one decision." The world is more complicated than that.

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, it was a KEY decision. Imagine what Cincinnati would have been like if the subway had been completed.

Streetcar Project Construction Update!

 

http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=91c66a5f3edf5f15778c567da&id=5fd37f2d0f&e=f9e3e2e966

^^^Umm..did anybody else click the link to CincyStreetcar.com?  It's an auto leasing site.  Who should be contacted about that?

Looks like someone forgot to renew their domain name. http://www.cincystreetcar.com/ is now just a spam site, and it has nothing to do with auto leasing - just links out to other places.

 

Updated Date: 2013-06-08 06:43:13

Creation Date: 2007-06-07 09:07:00

Registrar Expiration Date: 2014-06-07 09:07:00

Registrant Name: Steve Feeney

Registrant Street: 137 Golden Cross Lane

Registrant City: Bromsgrove

Registrant State/Province: Worcestershire

Registrant Postal Code: B61 0LA

Registrant Country: uk

Admin Phone: +84.55085008

Admin Email: [email protected]

 

Feel free to make him an offer for the domain name.

This was a typo on the press release. It's supposed to read www.cincinnatistreetcar.com

Does anyone know how much the city has to pay Messer if we back out of the contract? Is there an exit clause by the city? There is no way we can sign a contract with them, and then get out of it without paying them a significant amount of money. Does anyone have a figure and a source they can cite?

A really good question!  I was wondering about this too.  I saw an earlier post that had some specifics but that was before the recent Messer contract was signed.

 

There's no specific dollar amount. It's everything they've done plus an extra percentage for profit. So the further along they get the more expensive it is to cancel.

The Cincinnati Credit rating would plummet if he does. They are already looking at the city closely.

I can't fathom (and I am being objective as possible) a universe where  backing out of this project after the November election will be a positive.  from the sound of it, there will be as much a financial expenditure to cancel as to build.

^The city wouldn't have to pay to operate it, but we'd likely have to pay *more* to build it than not to build it, since we'd have to repay part or all of the federal grants.

 

 

Correct. He will argue that by losing $150 million now in canceling the project he is saving $200 million in operating dollars over the next 40 years.

Correct. He will argue that by losing $150 million now in canceling the project he is saving $200 million in operating dollars over the next 40 years.

 

Hope he does make this argument, for it's a real loser. And of course, this is just the City of Cincinnati's cash portion of the equation. We'd also be foregoing $200 million in the Net Present Value of beneifts resulting from the investment.

Just got home from Atlanta, where they're already laying track and have completed some segments on their streetcar. Was really cool to see. Photos soon.

Correct. He will argue that by losing $150 million now in canceling the project he is saving $200 million in operating dollars over the next 40 years.

 

Hope he does make this argument, for it's a real loser. And of course, this is just the City of Cincinnati's cash portion of the equation. We'd also be foregoing $200 million in the Net Present Value of beneifts resulting from the investment.

And maybe construction again to rip out the NEW tracks.

From Atlanta over the weekend:

 

- If you look down the middle of the rails there's a *GASP* manhole in the middle of the tracks! How will the utilities go on?

 

- Down this stretch of road there seemed to be a few established businesses and it was a nice area, but plenty of first floor retail spots that could be filled along the line. A few blocks over is a real happening area of downtown ATL.

 

- They were welding a few pieces here on Saturday morning. I didn't notice until we were leaving, but further East they had already finished sections and repaved the roads. The tracks looked great, but there weren't any overhead wires in place yet.

 

Some other observations: While I didn't have my bicycle with me on this trip I saw several cyclists cross the rails safely. Somehow, someway I think we're going to survive the streetcar.

 

Thanks for sharing those, can't wait to see the same in Cincy!

From Atlanta over the weekend:

 

 

 

Is that a Manhole in the mid-ground of the picture between the rails (in front of the light pole)?  If so it appears the concrete slab is already cracked in that location, a colder climate that would be a big source of deterioration.

That almost looks like four cuts, from the corner to the manhole, to prevent premature cracking. It's hard to tell without looking at the detail. Those usually have issues regardless of the cuts.

There's a decided lack of actual human beings in those Atlanta photos....

^Must have made filming the first season of The Walking Dead a lot easier.

 

In all seriousness, the day that the first of these photos shows up for Cincinnati is going to be such an exciting day. It can't get here soon enough.

"Lack of human beings in pictures"

 

That will be COAST and Smithermans next argument against the project

Is that a Manhole in the mid-ground of the picture between the rails (in front of the light pole)?  If so it appears the concrete slab is already cracked in that location, a colder climate that would be a big source of deterioration.

 

Here's a way zoomed in and cropped version of the raw photo:

 

 

Not cracked, just hasn't had the rest of the concrete poured around it yet.

 

There's a decided lack of actual human beings in those Atlanta photos....

 

You're right, there's not many human beings in those particular photos from that particular time, but you have to keep in mind that they were taken at 2 PM on a Saturday afternoon. The building to the left of the second photo is a massive office building that probably didn't have many people working in it on a saturday afternoon. The third photo shows a side street that the route goes down, the entrance to both hotels is on the other sides of that block.

 

Also, their streetcar will have a stop at Centennial Park, where about 20 minutes later plenty of people could be found:

 

 

And that photo doesn't even show the other people gathered around the two event stages or the nearby ferris wheel.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned Mr. Deatrick's interview with Cunningham on WLW today. Deatrick was very measured in his responses, while Cunningham was grilling him pretty good. Cunningham - of course - had to use the magic 'B' word a few times and even wrapped up the interview saying, "Yup, it's a BOONDOGGLE."

 

Kind of a 'meh' interview, regardless.

^I'm surprised Cunningham is so confident Toby Keith's is going to be around in 2.5 years.

FYI- The O'rourke demo fences are up around the Streetcar MOF property at Henry and Race. 

Cross post from the random Cincy Developments thread, and another arrow in the quiver of streetcar supporters!

 

Developer plans new apartments along streetcar line

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

The mostly vacant Schwartz office building on Main Street near the Hamilton County Courthouse will be converted into 20 LEED-certified apartment buildings by 2015.

 

Black Iron Capital LLC bought the building on March 27 for $446,000 at a sheriff’s auction, according to documents submitted to the city of Cincinnati. The building had an assessed value of $708,440, according to Hamilton County auditor records.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2013/08/developer-plans-new-apartments-along.html

Does anyone have a total number of development along the route?  Maybe a running tally?  The rest of the  local media needs to be aware of these developments

^ They wouldn't care about that because it would make them look bad. It would go against what they have been spewing out the past half decade.

Some good info from John Deatrick, streetcar project manager, in this article...

 

"Deatrick is also not married to all of the 18 stops in the current plan. Reducing the number offers a potential savings."

 

"His target for the laying of streetcar tracks is late November."

 

"“We hope to be operational in early 2016,” added Deatrick. “So the Over-the-Rhine loop should be operational about a year before that.”

 

"So, it’s conceivable a public streetcar route through Over-the-Rhine could be ready and rolling in 2015."

 

http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/cincinnati/streetcar-leader-partial-system-could-be-running-by-2015/-/13549970/21464428/-/c0d2il/-/index.html

Awesome news!

^ They wouldn't care about that because it would make them look bad. It would go against what they have been spewing out the past half decade.

 

Or come up with some other B.S. about why there will be so much development along the line.

Wait, a possible circular OTR loop may open before the whole system is finished?! That's great news! I didn't even realize this was going to be a possibility. That'll do wonders for them to work out any kinks in the system and train operators and such before the entire phase 1 is finished. And early 2015 isn't that far away. We could start seeing people paying to ride the streetcar in a little over a year!

 

My excitement about the city these days keeps growing. I didn't even think that was possible, but it is. I love it.

Hey guys, I just wanted to take a moment to say hi and introduce myself on here. As some of you know I am a co-chair of Cincinnatians for Progress and a vocal streetcar/Cincinnati/OTR supporter. I just wanted to thank you all for sharing information and support on this forum. Please know that we at CFP will not rest and will be the voice of transit and the streetcar going forward. We have a lot of good stuff up our sleeves and I hope everyone can make it out to one of the upcoming events. Or, if you see me out & about downtown or OTR please come up and say hi.

 

I have lurked on here for a long time and respect the knowledge and passion on the UrbanOhio boards, this one in particular. Keep up the great work! I firmly believe that it was the voices of the supporters rising in unison that got us over the hump these last 6 months to the point that we are getting ready to lay track. I plan on being more active on here in the future and being a newbie I hope that you can cut me some slack if I happen to commit any message board faux pas, which I probably already have, lol. Onward!

Welcome Derek!  Glad to have you on here!  Feel free to chime in any time:)

Welcome to UO, Derek! And thanks for your work with CFP.

Streetcar could be operational earlier than expected

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Part of the Cincinnati streetcar route could be operational in late 2015, well ahead of the Sept. 15, 2016 date the city had previously announced.

 

John Deatrick, who is leading the project, said the earlier date may happen because tracks for the Over-the-Rhine loop will be complete and at least some of the streetcars will have been delivered.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2013/08/streetcar-could-be-operational-earlier.html

Expectedly, this topic has drifted pretty far. There was a lot of discussion of the highway projects in Scioto County and the Ohio Turnpike as it relates to ODOT and TRAC, so I moved it to the ODOT Policy Discussion.

 

 

  Now, if Cranley wins and 1 supporter... just ONE loses and is replaced by a non supporter than the project could be killed at a huge taxpayer expense, but one Cranley seems to be convinced will be worth it.  we cancelled a subway that was half done... we can cancel a half done streetcar.

 

 

 

 

Are some of the  (4 I believe) anti-streetcar votes on council actually wavering...could they be flipped around to pro-streetcar once the cancellation penalties and costs are fully accounted for and understood?

Winburn and Smitherman would probably burn the streetcar to the ground if it "saved" just one dollar in initial costs. I believe Sittenfeld would not vote to kill the project if rails were actively being put in the ground. I imagine this past vote is the last time he will try to stop the streetcar. I think he realizes with the contracts signed and everything there is no turning back. At least I hope so.

Well played, Mr. Schneider.

 

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2013/08/18/just-who-are-these-so-called-streetcar-experts/

Well played, Mr. Schneider.

 

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2013/08/18/just-who-are-these-so-called-streetcar-experts/

 

I see Mark McGuire is still lending his unique "wisdom" to the Cincinnati.com comment feeds...

Well played, Mr. Schneider.

 

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2013/08/18/just-who-are-these-so-called-streetcar-experts/

 

I see Mark McGuire is still lending his unique "wisdom" to the Cincinnati.com comment feeds...

 

It's Mark Miller of COAST and he has at least 5 other personalities that 'like' his comment everytime

 

Hugh Montenegro is Jeff Capell of COAST