On the one-year anniversary of the death of a pedestrian killed by a car in Northside, some city officials are pitching a plan to remake a busy intersection that they say will make the neighborhood safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Amid the whoosh of speeding cars and the rumbling of buses and trucks, Vice Mayor David Mann and Councilwoman Yvette Simpson today held a news conference at bustling Knowlton’s Corner to propose making the complicated five-way intersection into a roundabout.
That would mean doing away with the intersection’s tangle of stoplights in favor of a ring of road that would require cars to slow and take turns — but not necessarily stop — through the intersection. Mann, whose office is spearheading the idea, says that will calm traffic that currently speeds through Northside’s business district and make the area more friendly for walkers.
“We’re here because we have to find a way to fight the idea that the purpose of Cincinnati neighborhoods is to be a place that people drive through on the way to somewhere else,” Mann said at the event. “People live in neighborhoods, people maintain their businesses, they’re a place where people congregate, where people walk and use bicycles.”
The news conference happened to be a year to the day since Sarah Cole, who owned Northside restaurant Tickle Pickle, was killed while walking across Hamilton Avenue. In the aftermath of Cole’s death and subsequent accidents, Northside’s Community Council put forth a number of suggestions for dealing with traffic issues, including further traffic studies, better signage and changes to traffic patterns. Council officials say they support exploring the roundabout idea for both safety and community-building reasons.
“If you look back at the history of Northside, standing at Knowlton’s Corner, this is where the neighborhood formed, where community was built,” said Ollie Kroner, Northside Community Council president. “This wasn’t a neighborhood built for cars, and it continues to be a neighborhood that attracts people who want walkability.”
Knowlton’s Corner has long been a bustling intersection. Neighborhood historians claim it was Hamilton County’s third-largest shopping district besides downtown Cincinnati by the 1930s. Even at that time, there were complaints about traffic in the area.They’ve continued ever since.
“Each weekday, thousands of Cincinnatians and residents of north-central Hamilton County mumble to themselves as they contend with the traffic congestion at Knowlton’s Corner,” begins a 1974 history of the intersection by Cincinnati Historical Society member and University of Cincinnati professor Robert T. Howe.
Today, it’s a crossroads between Clifton, Northside and other neighborhoods further west. Hamilton Ave., which carries traffic from Ludlow Ave. in Clifton across I-75, runs up to the city’s edges in College Hill and beyond. Spring Grove Ave., which crosses Hamilton at Knowlton’s, runs from Queensgate all the way out to Winton Hills before merging with Vine Street and continuing on even farther..
James Heller-Jackson is the community council’s communications secretary.
“We have a lot of arterials were people are speeding, just going too fast,” he said. “We need to fix that, and the roundabout is an awesome way to do that. It will not only calm the traffic, but it will keep it moving. They work. I’ve used them. It will help us as a neighborhood — we want to be safe.”
Studies where roundabouts have been implemented suggest they do reduce traffic accidents.
“Roundabouts reduce the types of crashes where people are seriously hurt or killed by 78-82 percent when compared to conventional stop-controlled and signalized intersections,” according to information compiled by the Federal Highway Administration. “By reducing the number and severity of conflict points, and because of the lower speeds of vehicles moving through the intersection, roundabouts are a significantly safer type of intersection.”
Mann, the chairman of Council’s Neighborhoods Committee, is pushing to get his proposal through Council, starting with a feasibility study. He’ll have help from Councilwoman Simpson, who supports the idea. Mayor John Cranley and Councilman Charlie Winburn have also signaled support for exploring the idea.
“We’ve had many fatalities, both walking and on bikes, because of the aggressive nature of traffic in our city,” Simpson said. “This is an innovative solution. I like this strategy not just because it brings these streets together, but because it gives pedestrians a clear path through the streets. It lets everyone know where they stand. It’s imperative to us… to have strategies in Northside and throughout our city to right the relationship between the pedestrian and the vehicle.”
Cincinnati has three other roundabouts — one at The Banks downtown, one in Eden Park in Walnut Hills and another where Clinton Springs flows into Dana Ave. In North Avondale. The Knowlton’s Corner proposal would represent the city’s largest roundabout to date.
This article appears in Sep 6-13, 2017.