Friday, June 04, 1999
Group still opposing light rail
Public forum on Monday in Deer Park
BY ALLEN HOWARD and TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DEER PARK — The thought of a light rail train coming through parts of Deer Park, Rossmoyne and Sycamore Township is not pleasing to residents along Blue Ash Road.
They said they fear too much noise, too much traffic and a devaluation of their property.
A group voiced objections at a Deer Park council meeting last week and plan to air complaints at 7 p.m. Monday in a public forum at Crawford Auditorium at Deer Park High School, 8351 Plainfield Road.
“I am not liking this at all,” said Joseph Gehring of the 9200 block of Blue Ash Road. “They are talking about more trains and more noise. I have lived here 40 years and believe a light rail system through here will ruin the value of my property.”
Bonnie Henson of the 8900 block of Blue Ash Road said she has mixed emotions about the issue:
“We already have trains coming through here that disturb my sleep. I guess it really doesn't matter if another one comes through.”
A 10.5-mile stretch of railroad tracks, known as the Blue Ash Line from the Norwood Lateral north to Fields Ertel Road, cuts through a denseresidential and commercial section of Deer Park.
“We don't own the tracks, and I am not sure if council action can stop anything,” Councilwoman Sandra Hall-Rymer said.
She said council will listen to the complaints Monday and take up the issue at the June 14 council meeting.
At a round of public meetings last month, most of the 215 people who attended were generally supportive of light rail in Greater Cincinnati, according to an analysis of com ments at the meetings. But some people raised issues they want to make sure are addressed as studies for light rail move forward.
For example:
• Residents who attended a meeting in Evanston wanted to make sure that minority neighborhoods will get direct access to light rail stations and expanded bus service.
• People who attended a meeting in Blue Ash expressed concerns that an end-of-the line light rail station would bring more traffic to congested streets and raised the issue of safety where light rail and street intersect.
• Residents who attended a downtown meeting were concerned about cost, ridership, funding and impact on historic neighborhoods.
The meetings are a required part of the light rail preliminary engineering study to gather information from communities that light rail could run through. More meetings are planned this month, and a final report on comments gathered is expected in July.
Comments will help mold the final project, which could be completed as early as 2008. The first 18 miles of the $600 million-plus system would run from Covington to Blue Ash.
head MEETINGS, WRITE
• Monday: 7 p.m., Deer Park High School, 8351 Plainfield Road.
• Tuesday: 7 p.m. with the Corryville Community Council at Church of God, Bellevue and Fosdick; and 6 p.m., American Council for the Blind at the Crowne Plaza, downtown.
• Thursday: 7 p.m., with the Walnut Hills Area Council at Victory Neighborhood Services, 2615 Melrose Ave.
• June 14: 7:30 p.m. with Mulberry Hill Community Council at the First Born Church, 47 Mulberry, downtown.
• June 15: 7 p.m. with the Kennedy Heights Community Council at the Kennedy Heights Presbyterian Church, 6312 Kennedy Ave.
Written comments can be sent to:
Warner Moore, project manager, Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, 801-B W. Eighth St., Suite 400, Cincinnati 45203-1607
Fax: (513) 621-9325
E-mail: plan@oki.org
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