Cincinnati Council did not have enough votes Wednesday for a motion asking for a "solution" to make parts of the Central Parkway protected bike lanes safer for drivers and cyclists.
Council Member Christopher Smitherman's plan had four yes votes and three no votes. Council rules say an issue needs five votes to be approved.
Smitherman is concerned about safety in the 1600 to 2100 blocks, in front of the police union building.
Mayor John Cranley is asking city administrators for a new report on the protected bike lanes. He said there are two questions.
"Is this the right thoroughfare to have a dedicated bike lane," Cranley said. "Number two, is it safer or not safer, or is this issue of more danger that we've all heard from anecdotally, is it borne out by the statistics? And we still don't know the answer to that question. And I hope that no one on this council is afraid of that information."
The city manager says staffers are working to compile that information.
The Central Parkway bike lanes were installed in 2014.
At first, Smitherman wanted the protected bike lanes removed from the 1600 to 2100 blocks of Central Parkway. He revised his motion Monday to ask for a "solution." But no one knows what that could be or how much it could cost the city.
The current and former presidents of the Fraternal Order of Police union, which is located at 1900 Central Parkway, told a committee Monday the bike lanes are dangerous.
