BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
With the wheels in motion to ease traffic congestion along Cincinnati's eastern corridor and Interstate 71, one city official says now is not the time to launch a western commuter rail line from downtown to Lawrenceburg.
Councilman Todd Portune's proposal to study the feasibility of a commuter rail line extending from downtown to the Indiana river community.Way and plans for a two-level transit center, for cars, buses and even light-rail down the line, on the riverfront “will not preclude future transit access.”
In an interview later in the day, Mr. Mendes said that I-71 and Greater Cincinnati Eastern corridors, subjects of intense study by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), are the priority right now. The goal of the 1-71 corridor study is to improve traffic flow from Northern Kentucky to Paramount's Kings Island.
The western commuter rail line is one part of Mr. Portune's nine-point plan encouraging development of a commuter line from Lunken Airport to Lawrenceburg. Eastern Corridor congestion. Initial costs for the study could reach $20,000.
The OKI Eastern Corridor plan includes lightweight, diesel-powered rail cars that would run from downtown Cincinnati, past Lunken Airport to Interstate 275 in Clermont County near Milford. It would use existing tracks from downtown to Fairfax, known as the OASIS line, and Norfolk Southern Railway lines the rest of the way.
Mr. Portune said the reports don't reflect a “grab the bull by the horns” attitude.
