taestell Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 I don't know if I'd go that far. Recalibrating traffic lights to give Main and Walnut more green light time will be a huge win for transit riders. Giving pedestrians a head start by turning on the walk signal a few seconds before giving cars the green light is a pretty progressive idea for Cincinnati. They even mentioned the idea of converting some one-way streets back to two-way, which surprised me, given that the DOTE typically hates that idea. Where it started to get a little wishy-washy is with some of the "yellow" ideas, like the four intersections where they suggested select transit vehicles may get signal priority. It would have been great for the consultants to say, "if this is implemented, we will shave x minutes off of every streetcar round trip and y minutes off of every Metro*Plus round trip, and therefore, we recommend moving forward with this proposal." Instead they just presented the idea to council and said, "do with this what you will." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanlammi Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Yeah, I could have come up with the recommendations that didn't include any concrete performance metrics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanlammi Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Also, very conservatively speaking, this consultant probably could have afforded an entire staff member for 2 years (salary, benefits, etc) due to this "study". Literally someone could have had at least 4,000 billable hours to this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 One of the more discouraging things from the presentation was Juech's response to Seelbach's question about Liberty Street. He basically said that Liberty Street was not part of this traffic study since it was being studied as part of its own project, and that the city was "looking at it again" (or something to that effect) because of the ordinance that Council passed two month ago. Council did not pass an ordinance directing the City Administration to "look at it again"... they directed the City Administration to actually move forward with building the Liberty Street Road Diet which has already been studied to death over the past few years, and they appropriated the funding to do so. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEPACincy Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 1 hour ago, taestell said: Giving pedestrians a head start by turning on the walk signal a few seconds before giving cars the green light is a pretty progressive idea for Cincinnati. This is so sad but true. I was in Cleveland last weekend and the Euclid Avenue BRT made me so jealous and ashamed of our stupid version of a bus-only lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jmecklenborg Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 People just need to quit worrying bout this stuff. Nothing's going to change until Cranely is out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 1 hour ago, taestell said: Giving pedestrians a head start by turning on the walk signal a few seconds before giving cars the green light is a pretty progressive idea for Cincinnati. 22 minutes ago, DEPACincy said: This is so sad but true. Well this is the city where pedestrians are given early DON'T walk signals in preference to turning vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasbw Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 26 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said: People just need to quit worrying bout this stuff. Nothing's going to change until Cranely is out of there. It only takes the six democrats on council to stick together to override a veto 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jmecklenborg Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 ^He's going to intimidate these people into doing what he wants since he appears, at least for the time being, to rank higher in the local and state D party. As long as that's the case and he can threaten to end their political careers while rewarding his allies (all of whom seem to be Republicans), the status quo will prevail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilworms Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 20 hours ago, jmecklenborg said: ^He's going to intimidate these people into doing what he wants since he appears, at least for the time being, to rank higher in the local and state D party. As long as that's the case and he can threaten to end their political careers while rewarding his allies (all of whom seem to be Republicans), the status quo will prevail. You are probably right. Remember who runs the Dems in Ohio :(. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 22 hours ago, neilworms said: You are probably right. Remember who runs the Dems in Ohio :(. Idiots? "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilworms Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 11 minutes ago, Cygnus said: Idiots? David Pepper, who pretty much was handpicked by Luken to succeed him and we all know how good Luken was as mayor.... Thank goodness Mallory won, the city would be in far worse shape if that didn't happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Cincinnati_Kid Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Traffic Study Leaves Cincinnati City Council Wanting More The interim version of a draft traffic study was not enough to appease members of the Cincinnati City Council seeking concrete action on congestion in Downtown. December 17, 2018, 1pm PST | James Brasuell | @CasualBrasuell "After a two-year wait for the results of a Downtown traffic study, members of City Council were left with more questions than answers Tuesday after a preliminary presentation from transportation officials," reports Pat LaFleur. The "Downtown Traffic Signal Timing Study: Interim Report" [pdf] left city council members wanting more specifics on proposed congestion improvement projects, like traffic signal timing, transit stop locations, lane striping, and curbside management, according to LaFleur. MORE... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Councilman Greg Landsman is saying on Twitter that City Council will soon be voting on a Vision Zero program. My question is, will this be a pure symbolic gesture in light of all of the recent pedestrian fatalities; or will it actually allocate resources where they need to be allocated in order to make our streets safer? Will CPD actually be required to ticket drivers for speeding, making illegal right-on-red turns, blocking crosswalks, driving or parking in transit-only lanes, etc.? Will DOTE be required to consider pedestrians and transit riders with every street design going forward, instead of only considering drivers? What mechanisms will be used to hold these departments accountable? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 The problem of pedestrians (including many children walking to/from school) being killed on Cincinnati streets has gotten so bad that even our Mayor can't ignore it anymore. He has proposed funding for several traffic calming projects that neighborhoods have been begging for. There's a very vague reference to "Vision Zero" but no details. And of course, no mention of the Liberty Street Safety Improvement Project which the Mayor simply doesn't want to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Congrats @JYP! Hopefully much good comes of this. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 This a great start. However, two questions: What is the impact to the ongoing (never ending) Downtown Traffic Study? How does one get a street added for consideration (I'd like to see Broadway extended two-way)? "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troeros Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 So will this task force have any input on the liberty diet as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 Since Liberty is outside of the CBD, I’d think not. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlas Posted February 16, 2019 Share Posted February 16, 2019 Vine Street in OTR actually could use tons of bump outs, raised crossings, ped priority lighting, which you can install without ripping up the curb. I’d start there honestly. Just keep stormwater running as is and build an island out, with a metal grate covering the existing storm water drainage. See the bump out and metal grate example in the link below. https://goo.gl/maps/uRMMmLAtUXT2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robuu Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Any chance the traffic study is being slowed by this UBER data sharing thingy? https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/uber-cincinnati-partnership-one-year-later/547964/ When was it the contractors were supposed to report back? I remember Landsman and others on council wanting to hear back shortly after the first presentation. Did that happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 While looking through some city documents related to Liberty Street, I came across the following paragraph: On February 12, 2013, the City Council authorized (document #201300171), expanding the scope by $250,000 for the completion of the 13th Street Streetscape between Main and Vine streets, $400,000 for the Spring Street Plaza and Recreation Area, and $445,000 for the Broadway Streetscape between Reading and 13th Streets. Does anyone know what the "13th Street Streetscape" is exactly? I know 13th got new sidewalks between Walnut and Vine in 2014 or so, but did that use up the entire $250,000? Or is there a plan to redo the Walnut-to-Main section as well? 13th Street is currently getting torn up for the installation of a new water main, it would be nice if they could redo the streetscape once that is completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 Discussion about a potential Court Street redesign has been moved to a new thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oudd Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 https://nathanrooy.github.io/posts/2019-02-06/raspberry-pi-deep-learning-traffic-tracker/ Pretty fascinating, this guy independently created a device to track pedestrians and cyclists along Central Parkway using Rasberry Pi. Existing systems used to count traffic really only work for automobiles, so there's a big blind spot. Quote Cincinnati is full of bikers, I see them every day. But if they’re not being counted, we’ll never be able to overcome the suburban bias in Cincinnati’s urban design and planning. With a better counting system in place we can get the necessary data to make informed decisions that reflect reality, resulting in a fairer and more equitable city. If only there was a low-cost, non-invasive solution that could passively count all types of traffic simultaneously in any weather condition 24/7/365 and seamlessly push that information to the cloud on a minute by minute basis… 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwulsin Posted April 19, 2019 Share Posted April 19, 2019 ^that is super cool. My only nitpick (and it is minor) is that the argument is initially presented around the idea that roads are being used by lots bikers, and we're simply not tracking them accurately. But the argument to invest in better road infrastructure for bikers shouldn't be predicated on the idea that there are ALREADY lots of bikers. The argument is that our infrastructure is poorly designed, and a better design will encourage more bikers and pedestrians. Anyways... that's just a framing nitpick. The actual technical implementation with the Raspberry Pi is very impressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 On 11/25/2018 at 4:41 PM, taestell said: The new crosswalks were painted today, meaning that the Main Street complete street project is done! Onward to Liberty Street! And now, less than six months after this streetscape was completed, Main Street is getting torn up again for more utility work: Walnut Street is also getting torn up, after being repaved in 2017. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 (edited) I don't understand how the city is so inept at planning for these events. Clifton between Ludlow and MLK was constantly being torn up for this reason or that right after getting repaved when I lived across from Burnet Woods. Edited May 8, 2019 by BigDipper 80 “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 I honestly think it's deliberate. The city requires utility companies that tear up a street that's less than (I think) five years old to undertake a much more significant repair job than they normally would on a street with older pavement. If they tear it up enough, the city can require them to do a complete resurfacing on their own dime. Of course by the time the utility work is finished it will three, four, five years after the first repaving. So it effectively resets the clock in case yet another utility comes along, or if one doesn't, the city gets 20 years out of a paving job instead of 15. I saw this happen to Morten Street in Hyde Park a number of years ago, which was resurfaced by the city in 2007 and then again in 2008 due to gas line replacement. Riverside Drive is currently being repaved from Adam's Crossing all the way to Stanley Avenue, but the section from Adam's Crossing to Bains was 100% rebuilt in 2009, and it would still be in fine shape except for gas line work that cut a trench down its entire length round about 2013 or 2014. That's lingered because of the sewer problems near Friendship Park, but now that it's done I'm betting the city has some Duke monies earmarked for this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas Wiederhold Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 What you see here is a pole attached to a pole with several monitoring devices strapped to it at the corner of 8th and Sycamore today. Box on the side has a green, yellow, and red circles in a line so I take this to be a sign of the downtown traffic study. I will now spend the remainder of my day riding my bike through the intersection to boost biking numbers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanlammi Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Clifton neighborhood looks to change traffic laws to enhance pedestrian safety Quote Residents and business owners in Clifton are no strangers to the risks associated with stepping foot in a crosswalk in this neighborhood. In the last three years, there have been 32 accidents involving pedestrians in Clifton, and many who live there point to speeding as one main reason. With the City of Cincinnati's approval, the neighborhood plans to test out a few new ways to slow down drivers. "The Clifton business district at rush hour can be a very unsafe place," said David Mann, a Cincinnati council member. Mann is hoping to adopt temporary changes that would eliminate the parking restrictions along Ludlow Ave during rush hours. The current test plan would mean cars could park in the right lane, reducing traffic flow to one lane and forcing drivers to slow down. The addition of bump-outs, an extension of curbs or other barriers to protect cross-walks, is also being explored, according to Mann. It's funny that when the problem is in David Mann's neighborhood, he's so concerned about pedestrian safety. When it's in OTR, he's worried about traffic flow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 It has now been over 6 months since City Council was presented with the "first draft" of the downtown traffic study. ::crickets:: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JYP Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 49 minutes ago, taestell said: It has now been over 6 months since City Council was presented with the "first draft" of the downtown traffic study. ::crickets:: The first draft is probably the only draft. Alternatively, maybe there is an earlier draft floating around with all the recommendations the administration cannot support, like bike lanes? Ha. “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 As part of the Riverside Drive rehab project they're removing some (maybe all?) of the bus stop pullouts. That's nice to see, but at the one that's finished they didn't move the sidewalk, so it leaves a crescent shaped planting area between the sidewalk and curb. Not sure about that detail, but it's interesting at least. This is a big project, with probably half of the curbs and sidewalks being rebuilt, especially at the landslide area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebillshark Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 (edited) On 7/2/2019 at 1:19 PM, taestell said: It has now been over 6 months since City Council was presented with the "first draft" of the downtown traffic study. ::crickets:: At the meeting when it was first presented, I believe it was Landsman that was trying to get them back in to present an update in like two weeks before the holiday break. Edited July 10, 2019 by thebillshark www.cincinnatiideas.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 ^ I remember that. I tweeted at Councilman Landman a few days ago to ask if there was any update on the traffic study and got no response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 The City is installing these "rapid flashing beacons" at some crosswalks, which is great, but I'm not a fan of their messaging here, as it seems to reinforce the car-centric way that DOTE thinks about everything. In their graphic, they do mention that motorists must "always yield to pedestrians," but in their tweet, they say that these new signs "alert motorists that a pedestrian wants to cross the street" which makes it sound like the pedestrian has requested permission to cross and the cars may (or may not) stop to grant the pedestrian permission to cross. Perhaps they should have said that the signs "alert motorists that a pedestrian is about to cross the street" because it is indeed the pedestrian who has the right-of-way, and motorists must stop for the pedestrian. Then, in the "pedestrians" section of their graphic, they're basically victim-blaming, warning pedestrians to pay attention and make sure that drivers have stopped. They're essentially saying it's the pedestrian's responsibility to avoid getting hit by a driver that breaks the law and doesn't stop at a marked crosswalk with two giant pedestrian crossing signs and flashing LEDs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 On the other hand, I'm glad that DOTE is now willing to try out some of these "quick and dirty" traffic calming measures. For whatever reason, they have been opposed to doing so in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Of course if they were really serious they'd bump out the other turn from Martin onto Eden Park Drive and put a stop sign there. There's really no need for that to be a continuous right turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 I'd estimate that only 1/2 the people crossing E. Pete Rose Way at the Purple People Bridge actually activate the beacon. It'd be much better if the trigger was installed under the tactile paving of the crosswalk. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJP Posted August 10, 2019 Share Posted August 10, 2019 “What is the meaning of this city? Do you huddle close together because you love each other?” Or “We all dwell together to make money from each other”? -- TS Eliot’s The Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted August 23, 2019 Share Posted August 23, 2019 On 8/8/2019 at 8:54 AM, jjakucyk said: Of course if they were really serious they'd bump out the other turn from Martin onto Eden Park Drive and put a stop sign there. There's really no need for that to be a continuous right turn. So I saw today that they did just that. Kudos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnus Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 On 2/15/2019 at 11:48 AM, taestell said: Congrats @JYP! Hopefully much good comes of this. Recommendations are in! On 9/30/2019 at 1:09 PM, JYP said: The document linked below contains the current plan for Court Street. https://city-egov2.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/council/public/child/Blob/54302.pdf?rpp=-10&w=doc_no%3D'201901393'&m=1 It did not make sense for completely pedestrianizing Court Street due to a truck and parking lot entrances through that block. However the team tried their best to make it as pedestrian as possible. Another huge concern was over parking with existing businesses. IMO this is a ridiculous concern as most of the parking up to the opening of the new grocery store was county employees or visitors doing business at the County Administration office. So to appease the business owners, angled parking was preserved on one side and added to the block of Court west of Vine. Overall this plan is not the best step but it is a better step than what I expected out of the Task Force. It aligns court street through the block and expands the pedestrian areas on the south side. It will be similar to the "festival street" on Short Vine so everything should be level with the sidewalk. This would make it easier to revisit full pedestrianization or something close to it in the future. 1 1 "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JYP Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 I have a good feeling about implementation of what we worked on. It's a rare instance where all sides were able to come together and do some good work! 4 “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oudd Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 Community leaders, developers work together to make Innovation Corridor car, pedestrian friendly: https://www.wcpo.com/news/transportation-development/move-up-cincinnati/community-leaders-developers-work-together-to-make-innovation-corridor-car-pedestrian-friendly Interesting discussion of how to make a 9-lane pseudo-highway less terrifying for pedestrians and cyclists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 35 minutes ago, oudd said: Interesting discussion of how to make a 9-lane pseudo-highway less terrifying for pedestrians and cyclists. Standard and relatively easy solutions that should've been in the design from the beginning. Streets this wide (they say 8 lanes but some legs are 10 lanes) should have islands. Just get rid of the right turn only lanes and you have 10-20 feet for islands. The whole street should still be crossable in one cycle, but that gives little old ladies and anyone who didn't quite make the start of the cycle a chance. Right turn lanes are one of the worst uses of road space, the next being two-way left turn/suicide lanes. I also wonder just how marginal the benefit of dual left turn lanes with protected-only signals (red left arrows) are compared to a single left turn lane with protected/permissive doghouse signals (left on green arrow or yield on green ball) or a flashing yellow arrow. Granted the latter is less safe for pedestrians, but there's also more space to be had potentially. The single left turn from westbound MLK to southbound I-71 is kind of infuriating since it's protected-only, despite having a clear view of oncoming traffic and the sidewalk. It only allows a couple of cars through per phase anyway, and you can almost never make it in time from the last intersection to trip it. I wonder if they had other plans there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEPACincy Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, jjakucyk said: Standard and relatively easy solutions that should've been in the design from the beginning. Streets this wide (they say 8 lanes but some legs are 10 lanes) should have islands. Just get rid of the right turn only lanes and you have 10-20 feet for islands. The whole street should still be crossable in one cycle, but that gives little old ladies and anyone who didn't quite make the start of the cycle a chance. Right turn lanes are one of the worst uses of road space, the next being two-way left turn/suicide lanes. I also wonder just how marginal the benefit of dual left turn lanes with protected-only signals (red left arrows) are compared to a single left turn lane with protected/permissive doghouse signals (left on green arrow or yield on green ball) or a flashing yellow arrow. Granted the latter is less safe for pedestrians, but there's also more space to be had potentially. The single left turn from westbound MLK to southbound I-71 is kind of infuriating since it's protected-only, despite having a clear view of oncoming traffic and the sidewalk. It only allows a couple of cars through per phase anyway, and you can almost never make it in time from the last intersection to trip it. I wonder if they had other plans there. I'd add that the best solution to this problem would've been not to build a 10 lane roadway in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakucyk Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 25 minutes ago, DEPACincy said: I'd add that the best solution to this problem would've been not to build a 10 lane roadway in the first place. Indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taestell Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 On 5/2/2018 at 12:25 PM, taestell said: On 5/3/2018 at 5:59 PM, taestell said: However, the city has started grinding down parts of 14th Street to be repaved, and in the process, has destroyed parts of the crosswalk in my second photo above. It just blows my mind that the city can't better coordinate these projects to avoid destroying paint that was literally put down 1-2 days earlier. Hey! The city finally came back and repaired the crosswalk that they painted and then immediately destroyed last year! Except, for some reason, they decided not to repaint the crosswalk on the east side of the intersection this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JYP Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Looks like Hollister Street in Mt. Auburn could become the latest street to be converted back to two-way traffic: https://city-egov2.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/council/public/child/Blob/55105.pdf?rpp=-10&w=doc_no%3D'201901798'&m=1 “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwulsin Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 I'm all for it! And speaking of that area, it looks like Inwood Park is getting a parking lot off of Vine St. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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