Cincinnati City Council voted Thursday to approve $425,000 to install a raised crosswalk at Oakley Square and three sets of speed cushions on Brotherton Rd. in Oakley.
These projects are separate from the city's usual traffic calming process because the money comes from the neighborhood's Tax Increment Financing District. A TIF District holds property tax revenue from new developments in the district; it can be spent on new public infrastructure or housing projects in the district.
Nearly a year ago, the city's Department of Transportation and Engineering chose traffic calming projects based on priorities identified by each neighborhood's community council. In Oakley, the city was only able to fund half of the cost for the top two priorities.
"Since we've historically used some of our TIF District funds to help pay for pedestrian safety/traffic calming projects, it made sense to consider doing it for these top community priority projects as well," said Community Council Vice President Joe Groh in a statement.
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The usual DOTE funds will cover a raised crosswalk in the eastbound lanes of Madison, and for two sets of speed cushions on Brotherton Rd. between Madison and Sherel Ln. Construction is expected to begin the last week of September. The TIF money will fund a raised crosswalk in the west-bound lanes of Madison on the other side of Oakley Square, and three more sets of speed cushions on Brotherton.
Council member Anna Albi praised the Community Council for its dedication to pedestrian safety.
"This is an issue across the city and it's just really exciting to see us implementing improvements that are going to make a difference and save lives, and to have the full support of the community," Albi said.
A few Council members expressed wariness about using TIF money for traffic calming.
"In certain neighborhoods the TIF funds are very flush, and they're in neighborhoods where there's a lot of development going," said Council member Jeff Cramerding in committee on Monday. "The TIF funds in these neighborhoods keep getting bigger and bigger, and it's got the potential to create inequities in our development. And now when a neighborhood is starting to use these TIF funds for traffic calming, which I applaud, if we're not careful, there could be inequities in which neighborhoods have safer streets. So it's just something that we need to continue to monitor when we're making spending decisions moving forward."
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Since last fall, DOTE has installed 37 sets of speed cushions, four speed humps, one raised crosswalk, and one stop-bump (a tool that forces a driver to come to a full stop at a stop sign), according to a department representative. Other traffic calming projects are currently under construction.
As of November 2023, Oakley's TIF district had a total $2.75 million. Groh says the Community Council has earmarked a large portion of the funds to help cover construction of a pedestrian tunnel connecting 34th Ave. to Oakley Station under a set of railroad tracks.
