By Steve Kemme
Enquirer staff writer

Ted Shannon, mayor of Fairfax, is hoping a spruced-up Wooster Pike will give the village an identity it now lacks. (Ernest Coleman/The Enquirer)

FAIRFAX - Work is expected to begin within three to six months on a $50,000 "gateway" project along Wooster Pike, a first step in a multi-million-dollar plan that officials hope will improve a negative image of this village's most visible commercial strip.

A half-mile stretch of heavily traveled Wooster Pike is lined with fast-food restaurants, a car wash, gas stations and auto repair shops. There's a dearth of trees and shrubs, and unsightly electrical wires run across and along the highway.

Fairfax's business district suffers by comparison to neighboring Mariemont, whose stretch of Wooster Pike features a canopy of tall trees, grassy medians, a picturesque village square and no visible electrical wires.

"The image of Fairfax for those who don't live there is negative because it's such a contrast to Mariemont," said Todd Kinskey, senior planner for the Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. "It's viewed as this place you drive past to get to Mariemont."

But that could begin to change soon. Fairfax officials are working on plans to improve Wooster Pike's appearance, to make it safer for traffic and pedestrians, and to attract more businesses.

"The appearance of the Wooster corridor isn't much now," said Paul Wittrock, a village resident who has been assisting with the corridor plan. "It needs some nice buildings. It needs some pizazz."

The first improvements will be sprucing up the western entrance to Fairfax, where Columbia Parkway (US 50) becomes Wooster Pike. About 22,000 vehicles a day drive through Fairfax on Wooster.

FAIRFAX FACTS

Median household income: $41,418 Median value of owner-occupied house: $93,000 Percentage of residents over 24 years old with bachelor's degree: 15.7% Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Preliminary plans for the gateway call for trees, shrubs and brick walls bearing the words "Village of Fairfax" to be placed at the four corners on Wooster at Meadowlark Lane and Old Wooster Pike.

"It should give us an identity we don't have now," Fairfax Mayor Ted Shannon said. "A lot of people don't even know they're driving through Fairfax."

Fairfax, a middle-class community of 1,938 residents, is attractive to some because of its proximity to downtown Cincinnati, its easy access to Interstate 71, its location in the highly regarded Mariemont School District and its relatively affordable homes.

The village's best-known landmark is the popular Frisch's Mainliner restaurant, a fixture on Wooster Pike since 1940.

The gateway project, estimated to cost $50,000 to $60,000, includes replacing chain-link fences along Wooster between Meadowlark and Southern Avenue with trees and shrubs. The village is seeking a state grant to pay for the project, Shannon said.

The Wooster Pike corridor revitalization project - which involves much more than the gateway project - has been discussed and studied for four years.

In the past four months, a committee of Fairfax officials, residents and businesses has been working on a village comprehensive plan, which includes the Wooster corridor. A land-use consulting firm, Meisner & Associates - LandVision of O'Bryonville, also has been working on the plan.

Tentative plans include:

• Extending Watterson Avenue to the south side of Wooster and building a village square in that area.

• Creating cul-de-sacs on Wooster at certain residential streets, such as Lonsdale, Simpson and Camden avenues.

• Eliminating some of the driveways on Wooster.

• Requiring more attractive and uniform business signs.

• Paying Cinergy to move the electrical wires to one side of Wooster.

• Planting trees and shrubs along the entire half-mile stretch of Wooster Pike.

• Widening sidewalks.

• Installing a landscaped median in the middle of Wooster from Meadow Lark and Southern.

The cost of the whole streetscape project could be several million dollars. The work would take five to 10 years and would be done as funding becomes available, Shannon said.

Kinskey said he's glad Fairfax officials haven't let the potential costs discourage them from pursuing a revitalization plan.

"It's better to have a vision of what you want to become than not to have any at all," Kinskey said. "If the people of Fairfax achieve 50 percent of what they want to achieve, the difference it will make in the community will be remarkable."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com