The city of Cincinnati wants to make a major thoroughfare between Downtown and Uptown more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly.
The city's Department of Transportation and Engineering is working on infrastructure upgrades along Gilbert Avenue between Court Street and MLK Drive that would calm traffic and add bike lanes.
The city is currently taking feedback on the four potential design options for the project. It held an open house Tuesday night in Walnut Hills to get feedback, and is also taking input online.
Department of Transportation and Engineering project engineer Brian Goubeaux says with nearby Reading Road slated for Bus Rapid Transit lanes and other streets also getting intensive transit options, Gilbert is the best route for the effort.
"When you look at all the north-south streets between the Downtown basin and the Uptown areas, there are really pretty narrow options, and then there's Gilbert," he says. "The other narrow options are kind of proposed for some heavy bus transit use — existing and proposed in the future. So Gilbert was our option to do a safe bike protected facility while not precluding any transit options."
Gary Dangel lives in the neighborhood and serves on its council and redevelopment foundation. He says the changes are a long time coming.
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"The Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation did their reinvestment plan in 2015," he says. "One of the key elements was, how do you create a pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly neighborhood that will attract people? And so it's a really critical part of the overall plan."
Dangel is hopeful the project, combined with other measures like a redesign of Victory Parkway, will better connect Walnut Hills and attract people to bicycle and walk to the neighborhood's cultural attractions like the Cincinnati Art Museum.
The various options run bike lanes on opposite sides of Gilbert, or two on one side of the street. They also vary in terms of traffic calming measures and other features.
The city will continue public engagement and design efforts into 2025. DOTE hopes construction will begin in 2026.
Goubeaux says it's an opportune time to think about making the changes.
"Originally this idea came about because we'll be paving the street," he says. "We looked at it, and said, 'This is something we can do here now.' So it grew from just paving to the project you see here."