Cincinnati City Council May 1 voted 8-1 to approve a road diet for Liberty Street — though this plan is a little different from past proposals.
The new plan will reduce Liberty Street to six lanes — four lanes for traffic, a center turn lane and a lane to the south that would prohibit parking from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. A seventh lane to the north would be for 24-hour parking.
That’s one more lane than the original five-lane plan drawn up after several years of community input and study, but one less lane than an alternate plan supported by Mayor John Cranley that would have added bump-outs to some sections of the road while keeping it at seven lanes. The seven-lane plan would have preserved parking on both sides of Liberty Street. The so-called five-lane plan would have potentially restricted parking on both sides during peak hours.
The compromise plan will end up reclaiming less right-of-way for future development than the five-lane plan would have — 10 feet — but also won’t cause the relocation of a water main that would have cost roughly $800,000.
Council member Chris Seelbach, who championed the original five-lane plan, called the new proposal “a compromise.” He said that while not everyone will be happy with it, it is better than keeping the road at its current width.
Supporters said the plan will increase the street’s walkability and prevent incidents in which cars hit pedestrians.
“A vote for this is a vote for pedestrian safety,” Seelbach said.
While the six-lane option has a veto-proof majority, not everyone is thrilled with it. Council member David Mann voted against the proposal because he felt more time was needed to vet the new proposal.
At least a few people in the neighborhood also don’t like the plan, though many resident supported the five-lane option.
“I’m a proponent for keeping it seven lanes,” OTR resident John Walter said. “I walk through there all the time and I feel like the cars parked along both sides form a kind of guardrail. Without that, cars would be speeding right up against the curb.”
Cranley said the plan still didn’t fully take into account businesses like Alabama Fish Bar, Chatfield College and others, but he applauded Council member Jeff Pastor, who pushed for the six-lane compromise.
Liberty runs between the northern and southern halves of Over-the-Rhine. Supporters of narrowing the street say the artery, widened in the late 1950s, is a barrier for pedestrian flow between the two sides of OTR. But those opposed to narrowing the street point out that it connects the neighborhood and the West End to both I-71 and I-75, and that the coming FC Cincinnati soccer stadium is likely to bring more congestion and traffic to the area.
Cranley, along with some other critics, like representatives from nearby Chatfield College and the Freestore Foodbank, have also cited concerns about parking along the street.
This article appears in May 1-8, 2019.