My Plan

My plan is to create a region tied together through transit. Cincinnati does not think of itself as connected to Dayton - but everyone else does because it is.

My has several parts and may take 20 years to implement. 

1. Move I-75 west at the river into the flood zone freeing up space in downtown Cincinnati for transit oriented development
2. Build transit connecting the region along the Mill Creek and Great Miami River
3. Consolidate airports
4. Connect I-71 to the new airport

Part 1 Move I-75 West

This is the focus of this blog because this has the most near term implementation. The point of this is to reverse some of the damage done in the 1960's. It also brings underutilized land into the urban core, allowing the city's central business district to grow. Few other cities have the opportunity to increase the acreage of the urban core like Cincinnati does.

Part 2: Build Transit connecting the region

Eighty percent of Ohio residents live in an urban area. That does not include Northern Kentucky, one of the more urban parts of that state. Historically, railroads went through urban cores because when they were built, that is where the factories were. Today, those rail lines still carry freight through the center of Cincinnati, Hamilton, Middletown and Dayton. However, several railroads wanted to service this route, so redundant lines run parallel to each other throughout the region. This leave the opportunity to consolidate service and free up lines for transit exactly where they are needed - in urban areas. It would connect the (newly expanded from pt 1) Cincinnati and Dayton convention centers. A major stop and only park and ride would be located at Tri County Mall. This would utilize the mall parking lot that sit empty much of the time - while people are at work.

Sorry for the messy map below. The line I am proposing is in yellow below.
Key 
Yellow: Proposed line
Red pins: Proposed stops (potential extension to Columbus)
Black: Existing Freight Rail Lines
Blue: Dead end existing freight lines
Pink: Rail spurs that would be impacted
Brown: New airport - keep reading
Orange: New highway

Part 3: Consolidate the Airports

Cincinnati gambled on Lunken Airport are the main airport for the region and lost. The resulted in CVG becoming the leading passenger airport and control of the airport in Kentucky's hands. Closing the DAY (Dayton) and CVG will not be cheap, but it is in the best long term interest of the region. In order to compete, an airport needs a strong base population. This is why OHare has continually gained flights while CVG has very noticeably lost them. Consolidation changes the region from one of 2 million people to one of 3.3 million. It also allows the region to connect the airport to transit and give control of the airport back to Ohio. This new airport would be located along the new transit route between Trenton and Hamilton.

Think of the economic impact this would have on Ohio. I don't see how Ohio politicians could resist.


Part 4: Connect I-71 

I talk a great deal about how bad highways are on this blog, but I am not totally against highways. Connecting I-71 near Kings Island to I-75 and the new airport will bring passengers from all over Ohio to the new airport.

This plan is an alternative to the Brent Spence addition for several reasons.

• Less development in Kentucky means fewer people crossing the river
• Fewer trips to CVG means fewer trips over the river
• More transit along I-75 means fewer car trips
• Transit serving the second street transit station would have strong connections to Northern Kentucky transit - reducing vehicles