Getting from Downtown to Uptown Cincinnati without a car could get easier in the future.
The city of Cincinnati is wrapping up the planning phase of a two-mile complete streets project on Gilbert Avenue. The Department of Transportation and Engineering's Elese Daniel says the city has completed a feasibility study and selected a preferred design.
The design features curb bump-outs to make pedestrian crossings easier at intersections and a two-way protected bike lane. Both lanes will be on the same side of the street from Downtown to Morris Street, similar to the most recent section of the Central Parkway bike lane from Marshall to Ludlow avenues.
"This is infrastructure separate from vehicles, so I think that's more welcoming and inclusive for newer cyclists, for cyclists who don't necessarily want to be biking in the roadway," Daniel said.
The lanes will run from Court Street Downtown to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Walnut Hills.
"That Uptown connection into Downtown is amazing," Daniel said. "Also, we're going to get our first bike signal. So that's really exciting from the nerdy engineer side of things."
The signal will operate a bit like a walk signal for pedestrians. It will allow cyclists to cross the intersection without having to worry about cars making turns.
The city plans to begin construction on the project next summer and wrap up sometime in 2027. You can find out more about the design on the city's website.
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