The prospect of a light rail transit system connecting Greater Cincinnati communities chugs closer to becoming a reality with signs of positive public support and a new media campaign aimed at boosting that support.
But total support in some communities still is hard to come by. Many Avondale residents, for instance, feel they're not getting their slice of the pie with the system stations as currently proposed, said Jesse Jenkins, a Columbia Township resident and state political chairman for the NAACP.
Within the past few months, a new, updated map has become available to illustrate the proposed I-71 corridor light rail line and neighborhoods it will serve. Among the areas served by the system, according to the map, are Norwood, Avondale, Evanston and Corryville.
Yet not all of those neighborhoods have proposed stations -- namely Avondale and Evanston, two of Cincinnati's largest predominantly black neighborhoods.
The mapped neighborhoods are points of reference, said Debra DeCourcy, leader of the public involvement team for the I-71 Corridor/Light Rail Transit project.
By listing the proposed stations on the previous map, many citizens thought the plan was finalized, she said. But none of the proposed stops have been changed with the new map, she said.
"(The map) is just a way of toying with us," Jenkins said, "to get things done ... to keep people from trying to get things done."
Everything is preliminary, DeCourcy stressed, and the stops that have been proposed so far are merely suggestions. If a neighborhood isn't on the current map, it doesn't mean that it will never be, she said.
At this stage in the game, the project's spearheading organization, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), is trying to involve the public, DeCourcy said.
"We don't want to have something written in stone and then find out the public doesn't want it," she said.
Jenkins said DeCourcy's statement is ironic because OKI hasn't gotten involved with his community. Additionally, he said, stations were proposed in October for Deer Park and Sycamore Township, and both communities expressed hesitation at getting involved in the system.
The project manager at the time, Warren Moore, said stations were proposed in those communities because of projected high residential ridership and thriving business districts to attract riders. Both communities cited burdens on infrastructure and safety issues as reasons for their opposition.
DeCourcy said she hasn't heard any opposition from Deer Park or Sycamore Township recently, mostly because there hasn't been heavy public involvement since last fall.
In October, CityBeat reported that the communities of Avondale and Evanston were upset with the proposed stations that would serve their communities ("Station to Station," issue of Oct. 12-18, 1999). OKI proposed that a station on Martin Luther King Drive near the University of Cincinnati and UC Medical Center would serve south Avondale, while a station in Norwood would serve Evanston.
Jenkins balked at both proposals, saying the stations would reinforce already strong growth in Norwood and Corryville while leaving Avondale and Evanston static.
"There needs to be stations (in Avondale and Evanston)," Jenkins said, "not just a stop. A bus stops, but how much growth comes from that?"
Jenkins said he'd like to see a station in Swifton Commons, which he thinks would serve at least four communities -- Norwood, Pleasant Ridge, Avondale and Evanston.
Dolores Brown, former Evanston Community Council president, said she was always under the impression that the light rail line would come through Evanston and didn't indicate any opposition to the proposed stations.
Jenkins, though, thinks a station at Montgomery Road and Dana Avenue would help revitalize Evanston.
OKI, with the help of DeCourcy's team at Dan Pinger Public Relations, currently is saturating the public with information about light rail -- its benefits, who and where it will benefit, how it will be paid for and how it will operate. Two weeks ago, a major media campaign commenced that features a six-minute video to answer frequently asked questions, a retrofitted bus -- the Rail Blazer --to make stops at community events so citizens can experience a light rail car, a Web site to detail everything from definitions to project reports (www.cincylightrail.org) and the ability to arrange community presentations.
It's all about aggressive public education at this point, DeCourcy said. Her team currently is putting together a letter to alert community leaders about the availability of public presentations and the Rail Blazer.
Public feedback hasn't been overwhelming, DeCourcy said, but the education phase still is in its infancy. The feedback link on the Web site has had some e-mail messages, but most of the public response has come via the project's hotline (929-2828), with one to two calls each week over the past two years.
Public support, on the other hand, has been very positive, DeCourcy said. Last week, the Hamilton County Board of Elections held a mock vote during Public Service Day, polling citizens on their support of a light rail transit system. Almost 88 percent of the 229 voters supported a regional light rail system.
Likewise, visitors to the Rail Blazer that day were overwhelmingly supportive. The most common question was, "When are we going to get this?"
"People, for the most part, are excited about the options light rail affords them," DeCourcy said.
The next Rail Blazer sightings will be at Monday's Bee Bop to Work on Fountain Square and at Covington's Maifest on May 19-21.
In 1993, OKI began the planning process for a light rail transit system to eventually run from the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport to Paramount's Kings Island to ease Interstate-71 congestion and invigorate regional development. Planners now are in the preliminary engineering phase, which will lead to the drafting of an environmental impact study to redefine proposed routes and station locations and define the costs, benefits and impacts to the involved communities.
The first phase will link Blue Ash to Covington through downtown. Newport could be linked with the light rail system, but that possibility is being examined under a separate study, DeCourcy said. The Central Area Loop Study is investigating the entire loop of Covington, Cincinnati and Newport.
Greater Cincinnati voters could be asked to pass a $700 million tax initiative in 2001 to help fund the system, according to published reports. The Blue Ash-to-Covington segment could open as early as 2006. ©
