The Mount Washington Community Council (MWCC) has provided interim Cincinnati City Traffic Engineer Martha Kelly and members of City Council with a letter of support for specific traffic calming measures for its segment of Beechmont Avenue.
The neighborhood has been working with the Department of Transportation and Engineering (DOTE) to redesign the corridor to lessen speeding, lower the accident rate, and make the business district more pedestrian-friendly.
Traffic speeds have increased steadily since a 2004 Ohio Department of Transportation widening project that removed a dangerous "zipper lane" from the roadway.
"It is our belief that the health, safety, and well-being of the residents of Mt. Washington are superior to creating a rapid route through our neighborhood for those who reside outside our City's limits," the letter said.
Originally outlined in the 2007 Mount Washington Comprehensive Plan, MWCC confirms its support for:
- Between Corbly Street and Beechmar Drive, restriping to include two travel lanes in each direction, bicycle sharrows, and the introduction of street trees in the public right-of-way;
- Between Mears Avenue and Crestview Place, on-street parking with peak-hour restrictions;
- Between Brachman and Mears avenues, on-street parking with peak-hour restrictions; and
- The intersection of Mears Avenue, Morrow Street and Beechmont Avenue, intersection improvements proposed by DOTE.
Budget limitations have curtailed work on additional portions of Beechmont, but the MWCC would also like to see planted medians, street trees, and bicycle side paths installed between Beechmar Drive and Elstun Road.
A 2008 survey showed overwhelming support from neighborhood residents for traffic calming measures, but a distinct lack of support from commuters from Anderson Township and points farther east.
Photo credit: "BMW at high speed" by Flickr user mooseberry, Creative Commons attribution 2.0 generic license.
Previous reading on BC:
Preliminary Beechmont drawings on display tonight (5/13/09)
Mt. Washington board to see Beechmont plans (2/4/09)
MWCC: Don't let a few negative comments outweigh desires of community (1/12/09)
Resident: Traffic calming on Beechmont a 'joke' (12/17/08)
MWCC releases Beechmont Street Improvement Survey (10/24/08)
