Cincinnati could push ahead on installing new bike infrastructure. But there is still plenty of controversy about which path (or lane) that infrastructure should take.
In 2010, Cincinnati City Council passed a citywide bike plan heavy on bike lanes. But Mayor John Cranley, who took office in 2013, much prefers bike trails, and the city's administration has generally prioritized the latter.
That debate hasn't gone away. Department of Transportation and Engineering Interim Director John Brazina today presented an update on the city's bike program. That update calls for completion of more paths and trails, but also highlights the funding challenges inherent in installing the more expensive off-street infrastructure, which can cost between $1 million and $3 million a mile.
On-street bike lanes are much cheaper, supporters say -- about $2,000 a mile. They cost even less when roads are already being repaved by the city. Further, bike lanes are vital in some parts of the city that aren't well-served by bike paths but need better accessibility options, according to lane advocates. Many of those communities are low-income, says Queen City Bike President Katie Vogel.
"Only building trails and expecting them to encourage cycling would be like only building interstates and expecting people to be able to navigate to their houses without side streets," Vogel told council.
Bicycle advocates like Vogel and some council members want the city to install lanes on six streets in Queensgate — Eighth Street, Dalton Avenue, Freeman Avenue, Gest Street, Liberty Street and Linn Street — already slated for repaving.
Installing the lanes while the streets are being rehabbed saves much of the cost that would otherwise be involved.
"The cost is paint and the implementation time is rapid," Vogel said.
DOTE is considering only two of those streets — Eight Street and Linn Street — for bike lanes as they get repaved, however. That's because the others haven't met several other criteria, including community engagement and traffic studies and coordination with Metro buses when applicable.
Council member Greg Landsman says those steps can still happen and shouldn't totally disqualify a street that is about to receive repaving from receiving a bike lane.
"We shouldn't lob these streets off the list if not all the things have happened," Landsman said. "Most of these are in communities where we're trying create greater accessibility for everyone. If the community isn't engaged yet, it will happen."
Bike lane boosters are also questioning whether a proposed $3.5 million bike path on Central Parkway between Ludlow and Marshall avenues couldn't just be a bike lane.
DOTE applied for a $750,000 grant through the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Council of Governments to build that path, which would complete the Central Parkway Bike Lane laid out in the 2010 Cincinnati Bike Plan. Completion of that lane has stalled since its downtown to Marshall Avenue portion was completed in 2013.
"For years we've worked on the Central Parkway Bike Lane," council member Chris Seelbach said. "All of a sudden, this is the very first time I've heard that we're ditching the plan we spent years on for bike trails. If we were to just stick with the plan, it would be absolutely less than a million dollars… a third of the cost, probably less than that. Who made that decision?"
Over the past nine years, Cincinnati has installed 14 miles of bike lanes and seven miles of bike trails.
The lanes have gone in at Spring Grove Avenue, Delta Avenue, Woolper Avenue, Central Parkway, Bank Street, Riverside Drive, Blair Avenue, Langdon Farm Road, Madison Road, East Mitchell Avenue, Ludlow Avenue, Martin Luther King Drive and Beechmont Avenue.
The trails have gone in along the Mill Creek, Eggleston Avenue, Wasson Way, MLK Drive, Dana Avenue and the Ohio River Trail along the riverfront.
"I want to go forward as a city that is doing both bike trails and bike lanes," Seelbach said. "But bike trails are significantly more expensive than bike lanes. I don't understand why we would be doing bike trails when we could be doing lanes."
