Better transportation for a 70-square-mile area of the Tristate that extends from downtown Cincinnati to Milford, Batavia and Amelia is a step closer to reality after the last of nine meetings on how that land should be used was concluded Thursday night.

        Defining land use is just the first step toward an $800 million Eastern Corridor project, proposed by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments. The project hopes to find a combination of the best modes of transportation for the diverse area, including roads, buses, rail, bike and pedestrian paths.

        The Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) listened to testimony on the subject before closing the public hearings. The RPC is expected to vote on the land use “vision” plan — either adopting it as is, adopting it with changes or rejecting it — at its Aug. 1 meeting.

        But many people are concerned that better transportation will come at a price to the environment.

        The Sierra Club is urging the RPC to reject the plan because it does not eliminate the possibility of a highway bridge over one of Ohio's most precious habitats — the horseshoe-bend section of the Little Miami River.

        “The land-use plan calls for the preservation of green space, but it does not explicitly reject the sprawl highway over the Little Miami River,” Sierra Club spokesman David MacKenzie said. “It also does not explicitly plan for commuter rail.

        “Without those plans, it's just a bunch of pretty words.”

        The Sierra Club's position is that a proposed 10-mile, $77 million highway, which would run from Fairfax to Newtown, would increase traffic congestion and sprawl while worsening water, air and noise pollution.

        Caroline Statkus, planning services administrator for the RPC, said adoption of the land-use plan does not mean a new highway over the river.

        That decision is still a long way off, she said.

        Rick Record, a principal of the lead consultant for the project, Balke Engineers, agreed.

        “No one wants to build a roadway that's not needed,” Mr. Record said.

        About 150 people attended Thursday's hearing on the plan at the Fairfax Recreation Center.

        The area's population is expected to jump from about 670,000 to more than 1 million in 2030. It's better to consider land uses and the public's values before trying to design means of transportation improvements, Mr. Record said. Many of the improvements that would happen during the project are several years off.

        But Eric B. Partee, executive director of the Little Miami Inc. said the vision for the Eastern Corridor is “out of focus.”

        He said the plan goes out of its way to talk generically about preserving green space. But it is light on specific facts that will preserve important habitat.

Cincinnati hospitals in crisis, area leaders told
Hundreds may have inhaled mold
In search of the perfect CPS chief
Pete AND a bobblehead? Watta deal
Previous Twitty accident not in file
Blackwell to be interim city schools chief
Hearings on traffic corridor conclude
Hoping for release, Condon must wait
Local abuse-review panel lagging
Norwood hosts POW/MIA Run
Obituary: Edwin Ingersoll was WWII vet, MU professor
Residents await word on future of their apartments
Tristate A.M. Report
West Nile likely to strike people next
HOWARD: Some Good News
SMITH AMOS: Safety lessons
Butler Co. soliciting advice on Internet
FBI investigating Clermont Co. coroner
Fireman's Club festival has its own way of attracting a crowd
Meeting urged to move Butler malls forward
Park Service insists on road info
Taft signs scooter bill, Segway-ing into future
Catholics outline qualities for next bishop of Lexington
Ky. State Police recruit veterans
New federal prison could be most expensive to date
Waldrop to head tracks' lobbying