A City-wide bridge beautification effort?

This rusted CSX bridge near Spring Grove and Ralston is representative of the condition of many others in our region Photo courtesy of the Camp Washington Community Council newsletter, March 2008

The March 2008 issue of the Camp Washington Community Council newsletter (PDF) has brought up the idea of a City-wide effort to beautify our many neglected railroad bridges.

Community organizer Joe Gorman reports that his neighborhood has joined the hundreds of other communities throughout the country that are dealing with rusted railway bridges owned by the CSX Corporation.

Gorman uses as an example the CSX bridge near Spring Grove and Ralston avenues (BIRD'S EYE), which is rusty, has crumbling concrete, and drips water onto whatever passes below.

"I wish we could do an inventory of blighted bridges in Cincinnati and how that affects neighborhood revitalization," he says.

So far, CSX largely has chosen to pay fines instead of maintaining and painting its bridges.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful has offered to paint some of the bridges, and was told that they could - as long as they provided their own paint and labor.

"In Philadelphia, City leaders have embarked on a bridge-painting effort that is artful, fun, and important to the aesthetics," Gorman says. "Perhaps we can lead a city-wide effort to beautify bridges here in Cincinnati."

CSX has over 25,000 bridges in the United States, though no public inventory is known to exist.

"Could you imagine if those bridges got painted because of some thing cool we did in Cincinnati?" Gorman says.