cincinnati Subway?? (Dayton, Norwood, Montgomery: neighborhood, construction, tax)

[jackson92186]

Does anybody know what is happening (if anything is happening) with plans to utilize the subway infrastructure? It seems like this should be a huge issue with gas prices. Even without that, it seems stupid not to use this infrastructure. Does anybody know what is happening, as I'm finding nothing in the news.

[The Don]

There is actually quite a bit on the internet about this forgotten aspect of Cincinnati - including some fascinating pictures of what is left.
A lot of the infrastructure was destroyed for the construction of I-75. Along Central Parkway there of course are some remnants of a couple of stations. At one time there was a subway entrance still in existence in the Norwood area.

Gas prices not withstanding, I don't think the old subway holds much promise - for one, much of it has been destroyed and secondly, the population has migrated much beyond its scope.

[hillside]

Originally Posted by jackson92186

Does anybody know what is happening (if anything is happening) with plans to utilize the subway infrastructure? It seems like this should be a huge issue with gas prices. Even without that, it seems stupid not to use this infrastructure. Does anybody know what is happening, as I'm finding nothing in the news.

cincinnati was using it as tourism last i checked, but the streetcar is planned to lead to light rail according to mallory. ham. county is working to get heavy rail going on the eastside, or the "oasis line", and the city wants to take over SORTA from the county, and add butler and warren to the board. the idea is to get the burbs to finally chip in and get buses (and rail) rolling all throughout the immediate ohio metro. it seems a ways off, but the city finally seems somewhat committed to joining and possibly exceeding our peers with big-city transportation.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by hillside

cincinnati was using it as tourism last i checked, but the streetcar is planned to lead to light rail according to mallory. ham. county is working to get heavy rail going on the eastside, or the "oasis line", and the city wants to take over SORTA from the county, and add butler and warren to the board. the idea is to get the burbs to finally chip in and get buses (and rail) rolling all throughout the immediate ohio metro. it seems a ways off, but the city finally seems somewhat committed to joining and possibly exceeding our peers with big-city transportation.

I know it's a BIG fantasy, but I'd love to see some sort of mass transit raech all the way into Montgomery Co. (or at least the South Suburbs) The thought of being able to get to downtown Cincy on a bus or train would really interest me.

[eddiecincin1]

has anyone thought of converting the old tunnel to a busway.boston has one where the bus in underground for awile and street in the burbs An express from norwood/hyde park to cbd would be awesome...especially for prop vaules for both both areas. how far does the tunnel go, plus buses are cheap and would fit with watermain that's in one

[The Don]

Originally Posted by eddiecincin1

has anyone thought of converting the old tunnel to a busway....... An express from norwood/hyde park to cbd would be awesome...especially for prop vaules for both both areas. how far does the tunnel go, plus buses are cheap and would fit with watermain that's in one

Problem is... there IS NO tunnel from Norwood/Hyde Park to CBD
RAPID TRANSIT LOOP MAP 1925

As can be seen, much of the completed subway was actually above ground and was taken when the Millcreek Expressway (I-75) was built.

[Hartwell Girl]

You know I have wondered but never asked...with all the construction planned for i-75...why not do what they have in DC where the tram isinthe middle of the high way? I think that was DC...I was much younger and it was a family trip but I remember parking and riding somewhere. Any one know much about that transportation and if it would work on the I-75 area instead of adding a lane or two which is what they are planning.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

I know it's a BIG fantasy, but I'd love to see some sort of mass transit raech all the way into Montgomery Co. (or at least the South Suburbs) The thought of being able to get to downtown Cincy on a bus or train would really interest me.

You know - that makes so much sense... This area is developing so quickly as the Cincinnati-Dayton (or Dayton-Cincinnati) Region... why not face reality and make it financially advantageous? Or do we want to constantly widen I-75, and spend a larger portion of our earnings on increasingly more expensive gasoline?

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by The Don

You know - that makes so much sense... This area is developing so quickly as the Cincinnati-Dayton (or Dayton-Cincinnati) Region... why not face reality and make it financially advantageous? Or do we want to constantly widen I-75, and spend a larger portion of our earnings on increasingly more expensive gasoline?

AMEN! Maybe I'm spoiled by having lived in Europe, but my wife (and I when I visited during her teaching assignment in Chemnitz, Germany) managed to do without a car the whole time we were there. Busses ran every 10 minutes and neighborhood stores meant that we had prettty much everything we needed close by. The rub would be getting people to pay for (AND USE...) a good mass transit system. Mike McConnell (AM 700 WLW) had on a guy that was against mass transit. The guest claimed that few Europeans and mostly tourists use mass transit there. I beg to differ with him; ESPECIALLY in large cities like Frankfurt and Cologne. Parking availability is even worse than it is in the U.S. Even their smaller cars don't make any difference.

The guests' other claim was that major tax abatements and other public money turned Portland, OR's mass transit into a success story. Maybe, I have to take his word for it. (Seems to me that the "follow the money" here is that other business interests feel like they will lose out if mass transit is built. I mean they tore up the tram tracks in L.A. once already, didn't they???

[franke01]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

AMEN! Maybe I'm spoiled by having lived in Europe, but my wife (and I when I visited during her teaching assignment in Chemnitz, Germany) managed to do without a car the whole time we were there. Busses ran every 10 minutes and neighborhood stores meant that we had prettty much everything we needed close by. The rub would be getting people to pay for (AND USE...) a good mass transit system. Mike McConnell (AM 700 WLW) had on a guy that was against mass transit. The guest claimed that few Europeans and mostly tourists use mass transit there. I beg to differ with him; ESPECIALLY in large cities like Frankfurt and Cologne. Parking availability is even worse than it is in the U.S. Even their smaller cars don't make any difference.

The guests' other claim was that major tax abatements and other public money turned Portland, OR's mass transit into a success story. Maybe, I have to take his word for it. (Seems to me that the "follow the money" here is that other business interests feel like they will lose out if mass transit is built. I mean they tore up the tram tracks in L.A. once already, didn't they???

I think the Orange Line in LA has been gone for many years.

The obvious difference I see with Europe is that the US is just so much bigger. Getting from city to city over there is pretty much inter-urban but here it can be much more than that.

I agree, though, that if it seems to make sense it should be implemented.