Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Cincinnati authorizes funding, cooperation for I-71 corridor

Cincinnati City Council has passed unanimously an ordinance that signals that it's on board with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for a study of Interstate 71.

The ordinance authorizes city manager Milton Dohoney Jr. to cooperate with ODOT to conduct the I-71 Corridor Access Improvement Study, which will explore ways in which access, wayfinding, and economic development can be improved in the Uptown neighborhoods adjacent to the highway.

The $2.3 million study will be funded with $679,149 in federal earmarks, $625,000 from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, and $500,000 from the Uptown Consortium.

To fund its $500,000 local share, the City will transfer $401,091 from various capital improvement program accounts and add it to nearly $100,000 it has in an existing MLK/I-71 Interchange account.

The new study is the next phase of the I-71 Interstate Improvement Feasibility Study, part of the Uptown Transportation Study conducted in 2006.