The process of converting McMillan and William Howard Taft to two-way traffic in Walnut Hills begins this weekend.
Cincinnati transportation officials and neighborhood leaders have been working for a year on the plan to change both streets between I-71 and Victory Parkway.
McMillan Street is scheduled to be repainted and converted to two-way Saturday. The work on Taft is planned for next Saturday.
Clarence Taylor is the President of the Walnut Hills Area Council. He welcomes the return of two-way traffic.
“The importance of having the traffic come back from one-way to two-way is one to slow the traffic, it gives you a sense of safety,” Taylor said. “And two, it gives an opportunity for potential developers, potential entrepreneurs to come back into the community because it will give you an environment that will be foot traffic safe.”
Taylor said he's hoping the conversion will bring new energy from new people.
“Downtown is picking up now, of course we have a casino coming in and some people like the pros and cons of that,” Taylor said. “But what I’m interested in is the new energy that’s coming from the suburban area that’s moving into the city area. Not everybody wants to be directly Downtown, but they want to be close to Downtown.”
The new design will have two eastbound lanes on McMillan, one westbound and a lane for parking on the north side. Taft will have two westbound lanes, one eastbound and a lane of parking on the south side.
Since contractors will be working in the street and overhead, drivers should expect stopped traffic and delays during the conversion both this weekend and next.
