Tuesday, April 11, 2000
Gate has Norwood residents pleased
Device will redirect Cintas Center traffic
By Allen Howard
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NORWOOD — What was a headache to motorists traveling on Cleneay Avenue on Friday was a blessing to the residents of the street.
Safety Director Cliff Miller said the Gertz Co. of Norwood temporarily blocked the street while installing and testing a gate to be used to redirect traffic during major events at Xavier University's new Cintas Center, scheduled to open in September.
“We are talking, of course, about games, graduations and concerts that will bring in a large crowd,” Mr. Miller said. “The gate will have a lock box on it so that emergency vehicles can unlock the gate when they need to.”
The $44 million Cintas Center, the biggest building project in the 167-year history of the university, will house a 10,000-seat arena where the Xavier Musketeers basketball team will play. The center will also house a student dining hall and a conference center.
“The gate will be used to block traffic from going into Norwood,” Mr. Miller said. “We expect from 4,000 to 5,000 cars during major events. We don't want Cleneay Avenue and Montgomery Road to be the main egress and ingress to the Cintas Center.”
He said the city often experiences traffic problems when events are held at nearby Cincinnati Gardens, where the Musketeers formerly played.
“A lot of the side streets and driveways are often blocked. There is usually a lot of noise, drinking and sometimes using yards as toilets. We are trying to look ahead to avoid this problem.”
Some residents on the street noted motorists expressing disgust while driving down Cleneay on Friday when the gate was being installed and they had to change their route.
“I saw some motorists drive down the street, then turn around and speed back up the street in anger,” one resident said.
Mary McIntosh of the 1700 block of Cleneay Avenue, who has expressed concern about the amount of traffic the Cintas Center will generate, was pleased with the gate.
“I wish the street could be closed all the time, instead of just when there are games at the center,” she said. “I live close enough that I know what the traffic is like.”
She said Cleneay Avenue is a street that had not been used much until construction started on the center.
“Whenever there is a crowd at the university, the students speed up and down this street. They don't know what a 20-mile-an-hour speed zone means. They only understand 50 miles an hour. They drink a lot, and they make a lot of noise. They don't have any regard for the residents at all,” she said.
She said residents on the street have begged City Hall to close the street permanently from the Xavier traffic.
Leroy May, also a resident in the 1700 block of Cleneay, is pleased with the idea of closing the street during games.
“I am all for it because I think it will make the street safer,” Mr. May said.
“When there is something going on at the university, the students speed down this street as if it is a freeway.”
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