BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- Transportation officials have been hitting dead ends trying to find park-and-ride lots in West Chester.
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8 TRIPS A DAY
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Parking will be free. Metro will run eight buses from West Chester to Cincinnati from about 6 to 8:30 a.m. and eight the other way from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Rides are 50 cents each way through Labor Day, then $1.50 each way. |
Now Union Township is stepping in to clear a path.
The Butler County township trustees are expected to approve a lease tonight with Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) for the agency's use of McGinnis Park for 200 parking spaces. The lease would allow residents to park for free and take Metro buses to work or shop in Cincinnati by the end of the month.
To skirt Fort Washington Way construction obstacles the next two years, SORTA set up park-and-ride lots this summer on private property near Fairfield and in Harrison. But it has not had much luck leasing lots from stores, developers or churches in West Chester.
"The general feeling is they are very busy already and don't have the parking capacity," said SORTA spokeswoman Sallie Hilvers. Also, some didn't want the liability in case of an accident or theft, she said.
So SORTA turned to the township, asking to use parking space at McGinnis Park on Cox Road for $1, said Administrator David Gully. However, the township plans to swap the 40 acres of McGinnis Park by the end of the year for 176 acres of property near Beckett Ridge, Gully said.
The reason is that Union Township wants to spread out its park space. McGinnis Park is across Cox Road from the Voice of America, which has 300 acres of future recreation space the township stands to acquire from the federal government within the next three months. The swap could create a problem for SORTA if the new owner of the McGinnis Park property does not want it used as a park-and-ride lot.
The agency would have to go somewhere else. Trustee Catherine Stoker is trying to get the township to let it move onto part of the new park property at the Voice of America.
If trustees approve the lease at McGinnis Park, the lot could be set up by the end of August, Ms. Hilvers said.
SORTA hopes to turn the lots into permanent fixtures after Fort Washington Way is complete if there is enough interest.
Alternative sources of money would need to be found first, though, to replace the state's grant of $3.1 million to lease the temporary lots and hire extra Metro drivers.
Union Township Trustee Tom Hayden said the temporary lots are important for the environment and a good idea, as long as park users are not inconvenienced.
"I don't want to be in a position where people can't use the park because there's no parking," he said. "But given the times (that buses run), I think it would work."
