Thursday, May 13, 1999
XU arena plan upsets neighbors
Connector may disrupt quiet street
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Webster Avenue is a quiet street, about 50 yards long, stretching from Hopkins Avenue to a former dump site near Xavier University.
There is little traffic on the street at night or on weekends, said Devonne Daniel-Deem, who lives in one of six houses on the street.
But the little street, built in 1885, is at the center of a dispute among residents, Xavier, Norwood and Cincinnati.
The university and the two cities have approved a plan to build a connector from a campus parking lot to Webster, then on to Hopkins and Victory Parkway and Montgomery Road.
The goal is to handle the added traffic to and from Xavier's $44 million Convocation Center, scheduled to open late spring next year.
“I am scared,” said Mrs. Daniel-Deem. “This sounds like traffic on our street could go from zero to 5,000 to 15,000 cars a day.”
Mrs. Daniel-Deem and her neighbors on Webster and surrounding streets said they want Webster to remain a dead-end street.
“This is the worst street in the area to be a driveway for the sport-arena traffic,” said Keith Moore, who lives on Hopkins.
He said Ledgewood, Cleneay, Pacific and Herald streets, which border the ar ea where the center is being built, can handle the traffic to Montgomery Road, Victory Parkway and Dana Avenue.
But John Kucia, an administrative vice president at Xavier, doesn't think the plan is problematic. Nor does Jack Cameron, Norwood's project manager.
“Webster Avenue will be part of a traffic management plan we have developed to make it safe for the neighborhood as the traffic flow increases,” Mr. Kuciasaid. “It will be one of several streets that will help the flow of traffic in and out of the convocation-center area.”
Mr. Cameron said there could be legal issues involved if Norwood tries to prevent access to the street.
“As far as our legal status is, Xavier is allowed to build the driveway,” Mr. Cameron said. “If we tried to stop the university, we could be sued, and I think the university would win.”
The city of Cincinnati had to approve the plan, because the center will be in the city.
Mr. Moore also raised an environmental issue. A connector from the parking lot to Webster would cross a grassy area, once used as a dump site for the Foy Johnson Paint Co., which previously was located there.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) was informed of rusted drums and solid waste uncovered when construction started last year. Soil samples in the area were classified as hazardous waste.
OEPA officials said they would monitor soil samples until the center is completed next year.
The 10,000-seat sports arena will be the home of the Xavier Musketeers men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams. The center, near A.B. Cohen Center on the northeast edge of the campus and near Buenger Residence Hall, will feature three conference centers, a dining area and sports arena.
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