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Mann still looking for votes on bike lanes compromise

UPDATE:

Cincinnati Vice Mayor David Mann says he doesn't have enough votes yet for a motion that would save a plan to add protected bike lines to Central Parkway.

City council met in special session Thursday afternoon for the first reading of an ordinance that would kill the plan. Second readings of the ordinance are scheduled for this morning and next Tuesday, when a decision would be made.

Mann said he has a council majority to kill the project. But he has offered a motion that would modify the plan to maintain on-street parking between Ravine and Brighton streets that would allow it to go forward. Mann said, so far, only council member Chris Seelbach has signed that motion, but he is targeting others.

- Howard Wilkinson

Cincinnati Council could decide the fate of a plan to add protected bike lanes to Central Parkway Thursday.  

A special committee meeting and council session are scheduled for two proposals.  

One would modify the current plan to maintain on-street parking 24 hours a day between Ravine and Brighton Streets.  The other would kill the bike lanes all together.  

Vice Mayor David Mann said he has majority votes to kill the project, but he does not have five votes yet for the compromise he introduced Tuesday.

Council must reach a decision before May 1st or grant funding for the work will have to be returned.  

Yvette Simpson said the original plan Council approved last year should continue.

“The proposal can go forward as proposed and we can talk about alternatives to deal with the very specific needs of this private property owner,” Simpson said.

Three other council members also support letting the plan move ahead without changes.  

But there is apparently a majority with concerns including Kevin Flynn.

“My concerns are much broader than the issues of parking in front of a few businesses along Central Parkway,” Flynn said.

Flynn is worried about traffic flow on the Parkway and what the protected bike lanes will mean for Metro buses and those with mobility issues.  

Council's Major Transportation and Regional Cooperation Committee will discuss the issue at 1 p.m. Thursday.  A special council session will follow at 3:30 p.m.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.