Thursday, October 21, 1999
Montgomery Road may become light-rail corridor
Some businesses like street access
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It wasn't part of the original designs for light rail in Greater Cincinnati, but planners are considering bringing the trains up a six-mile stretch of Montgomery Road instead of using a railroad right-of-way to the east.
That would bring the trains to the front doors — not the back — of the neighborhood businesses that line Montgomery Road in Norwood and Pleasant Ridge.
The issue for both sides: Money.
Critics say running the trains on Montgomery Road would probably increase traffic congestion as well as the cost, now estimated at $743 million, of a light rail line being planned between Covington and Blue Ash.
Some business owners and politicians, though, say using the old right-of-way would mean bypassing Norwood, Pleasant Ridge and other neighborhoods and economic development opportunities.
“If you can put it in the middle of downtown streets, you can put it in the middle of Montgomery Road,” said Mike Kull, who owns The Dubliner Irish pub on Montgomery Road in Pleasant Ridge and lives in the community. “If it doesn't go through Montgomery Road and serve the business district, you will only get the negative impact.”
The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) is in the third of five stages necessary for Greater Cincinnati to get a light rail line. Ultimately, voters will decide whether light rail gets built. As early as spring of 2001, they could be asked to help pay for the system by voting on a yet-to-be determined tax.
Under the project's timetable, trains could be running in 2008.
Planners are still talking to residents and business owners in several communities who say they haven't had their say.
There are lots of opinions.
Officials in Deer Park say they don't want the trains. Some Evanston community leaders say they do. People in Kennedy Heights, Norwood and Pleasant Ridge want to explore possibilities.
When preliminary engineering starts again, likely in a couple of weeks, consultants will study how businesses, residents and traffic would be affected by putting the tracks on Montgomery Road north of Dana Avenue to Kenwood Road.
Richard Nau, an OKI consultant, said planners are looking at several options:
• Trains on Montgomery Road between Dana Avenue and Kenwood Road where tracks would join the right-of-way north of Ronald Reagan Highway.
• Trains on Montgomery Road from Dana Avenue to Silverton where they could join the right-of-way.
• Trains on Montgomery Road from Dana Avenue joining into the train right-of-way east of Surrey Square Mall near Lafayette Avenue.
That option most appeals to Norwood Mayor Joe Hochbein, who sees light rail on that portion of Montgom ery Road as a way to bring back a bigger variety of stores. In its heyday, Norwood boasted men's and women's clothing stores and other boutique-type shops.
“We see light rail as having some great potential of revitalizing businesses in the downtown without disrupting the neighborhoods,” he said.
In Pleasant Ridge, Jim Hurd, owner of the Pleasant Hour Cafe on Montgomery Road, said light rail on Montgomery Road would benefit the communities between downtown Cincinnati and Blue Ash.
“People will find places to park,” he said. “I don't see that as a huge issue. I'd rather see the walk-in business from the train.”
But Bill Jansen and Aaron Turner aren't convinced a Montgomery Road route is the best alternative.
Mr. Jansen, owner of Ohio Valley Audio in Norwood, said customer ac cess is not an issue because “Norwood is so accessible off the highway right now.”
Mr. Turner, owner of Brass Eagle Antiques on Montgomery Road in Pleasant Ridge, is similarly skeptical. “We have thousands of cars drive by every day and once in a while someone will say they called or stopped by because they saw something in the window, but that is very rare.”
Still, others want to see the finished study before taking sides.
“We're in a wait-and-see attitude,” said Tom Hagerty, Pleasant Ridge Community Council president. “We want to look at not only what is best for Pleasant Ridge, but what is best for the global community.”
The study should be done before the end of the year.
TO BE HEARD
Comments, suggestions, and opinions on light rail can be E-mailed to plan@oki.org.
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