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Started 4 years ago by garrettbe
Latest reply from Walker

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Battery-powered streetcars in Cincinnati?
3:38 PM, Jul. 4, 2011
Written by
Barry M. Horstman

Cincinnati, often chided as a city slow to embrace new ideas, could find itself on the cutting edge of streetcar technology in America if city leaders opt for a battery-powered system that could cut costs, streamline construction and eliminate unsightly overhead wires.

For City Hall, the choice between a conventional electrical streetcar system like those in other cities and the "wireless" option is the final major policy decision to be made before construction on the Downtown-to-Over-the-Rhine line begins, probably later this year.

READ MORE: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110704/NEWS0108/107050317/Battery-powered-streetcars-Cincinnati

Posted 10 months ago #
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Streetcar foes struggle to get signatures for ballot issue
11:43 PM, Aug. 2, 2011
Written by
Barry M. Horstman

A proposed city charter amendment to block construction of the Cincinnati streetcar, once considered a certainty for the November ballot, is going to need a strong push over the next week to go before voters this fall.

After months of effort by streetcar opponents and with only a week remaining before a "soft" Aug. 10 deadline, the anti-streetcar petition has 5,227 valid signatures of registered Cincinnati voters, well below the 7,468 needed to qualify for the ballot.

READ MORE: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110802/NEWS0108/108030332

Posted 9 months ago #
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Streetcar foes rally just in time
Aug. 8, 2011
Written by
Barry M. Horstman

Opponents of the Cincinnati streetcar have stepped up their petition signature drive and now appear likely to place a proposed charter amendment to block the $95 million-plus project before voters this fall.

From last Wednesday through Friday, streetcar opponents gained 734 valid signatures of registered Cincinnati voters, more than they had collected over weeks in earlier stages of their petition effort.

READ MORE: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110807/NEWS0108/108080308/Streetcar-foes-rally-just-time-

Posted 9 months ago #
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ENQUIRER EXCLUSIVE: City has spent $7M on streetcar so far
6:35 PM, Aug. 16, 2011
Written by
Barry M. Horstman

Cincinnati has spent nearly $7 million on the controversial streetcar proposal, a project with an uncertain future that hinges on whether city voters endorse or reject it this fall.

The money, detailed in documents provided in response to a public records request by The Enquirer, was spent well before an anti-streetcar measure qualified for the fall ballot last week. Much of the money also was allocated before questions about the project’s likelihood surfaced early this year.

READ MORE: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110816/NEWS01/110816035/

Posted 9 months ago #
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Controversial Tweet Unites City On Streetcar Issue
Monday September 12, 2011 6:38 PM

A tweet on Twitter has fired up a lot of people on both sides of the streetcar debate in Cincinnati.

"I was shocked when I read it. It reflects poor taste," said Cincinnati council member Roxanne Qualls. "It shows bad judgment and factually simply wrong."

READ MORE: http://www.onntv.com/content/stories/2011/09/12/story-streetcar.html

Posted 8 months ago #
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How far does the streetcar ballot issue really go?
12:50 PM, Sep. 17, 2011

November's ballot issue to halt Cincinnati's streetcar plan until 2020 is written so broadly it could stop other rail projects in the city, say a majority of legal experts interviewed by The Enquirer.

Cincinnati voters will decide on Issue 48 this fall. But the impact of what they'll be voting on has been in dispute.

READ MORE: http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110917/NEWS0108/109180336/How-far-does-streetcar-ballot-issue-really-go-?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Posted 8 months ago #
rory
NW Short North
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From the UC website today:

The University of Cincinnati Student Government is conducting a survey regarding Issue 48, an amendment to the charter of the City of Cincinnati to prevent spending to build and operate a streetcar system through the year 2020.

We are conducting this survey in order to both inform students about the issue and to determine whether or not there is a significant consensus among students.

Click here for the official ballot language and arguments for and against the item.

Please review the information and submit your opinion.

Are you for or against Issue 48?

For (ban funding until 2020) 598 / 43.91%

Against (do not ban funding until 2020) 593 / 43.54%

Indifferent 171 / 12.56%

This couldn't be much closer.

Posted 7 months ago #
leftovers

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Student population while important seems more on the fringe when discussing infrastructure development and long reaching 10 year plans. Regardless, I would have hoped for a wide margin against the ban in this demographic. I think it is a bad sign.

Posted 7 months ago #
GCrites80s
5xNW
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A large portion of UC students are commuters from the outer 'burbs that might not be all that sympathetic to urban needs.

Posted 7 months ago #
Coremodels
Really close to Explorer's Club.
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Students don't really vote.

Posted 7 months ago #
GCrites80s
5xNW
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And, how many participants in the survey are registered to vote within the City of Cincinnati?

Posted 7 months ago #
futureman
Grandview Heights
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Very close vote that would have banned any public or private rail investment in the city of Cincinnati.

Additionally pro-streetcar council members now now have control of the council.

Streetcar, rail get go-ahead
City voters narrowly support project
Written by Barry M. Horstman

Cincinnati voters narrowly gave a green light Tuesday to the long-debated streetcar project, clearing the way for construction of the Downtown-to-Over-the-Rhine line to begin by early next year.

In an extremely close vote that perhaps was the only appropriate ending to a contentious issue that has dominated debate inside and outside City Hall for years, Cincinnatians defeated Issue 48, 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.

That difference, though narrow, falls outside the one-half of 1 percent margin that under state law would have triggered an automatic recount.

READ MORE: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111108/NEWS0108/111090338/Streetcar-rail-get-go-ahead?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Posted 6 months ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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More here:

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/11/how-cincinnati-defeated-streetcar-haters-again/468/

Posted 6 months ago #
jpizzow
580 N. Park St.
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Wow! They are missing a few of downtowns' biggest destinations in the park and stadiums and also north to campus. Hope this is successful so that future voting and funding for that extension goes a little smoother. This is one example where cutting back may backfire. Hope I'm wrong though.

Posted 6 months ago #
columbusmike

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Do you think this will revive the Columbus Streetcar proposal?

Posted 6 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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columbusmike said:
Do you think this will revive the Columbus Streetcar proposal?

I think Coleman winning his fourth (and I assume final?) term as Mayor will revive the Streetcar proposal.

Whether or not it can be done without intervention from Kasich is the question. ;)

Posted 6 months ago #
columbusmike

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Kasich will need to rephrase his famous quote to "If you're not on the streetcar, we'll run over you with the streetcar". :)

Posted 6 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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jpizzow said:
Wow! They are missing a few of downtowns' biggest destinations in the park and stadiums and also north to campus. Hope this is successful so that future voting and funding for that extension goes a little smoother. This is one example where cutting back may backfire. Hope I'm wrong though.

There was no other choice after Kasich pulled some of the funds for the project. It was either scale back, or cancel the project entirely.

Posted 6 months ago #
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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jpizzow said:
Wow! They are missing a few of downtowns' biggest destinations in the park and stadiums and also north to campus. Hope this is successful so that future voting and funding for that extension goes a little smoother. This is one example where cutting back may backfire. Hope I'm wrong though.

I hate to be pessimistic, but I think it will backfire. I think this route is too short and misses some of the most important destinations to draw the ridership it needs to be deemed successful. I think the Columbus equivalent would be like building a streetcar from High & King to High & Vine instead of from the south end of downtown to campus.

Posted 6 months ago #
futureman
Grandview Heights
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johnwirtz said:
I hate to be pessimistic, but I think it will backfire. I think this route is too short and misses some of the most important destinations to draw the ridership it needs to be deemed successful. I think the Columbus equivalent would be like building a streetcar from High & King to High & Vine instead of from the south end of downtown to campus.

Cincinnati submits $56.8M TIGER III application to fund modern streetcar extension
By: Randy A. Simes
November 15, 2011 – 8:45 am

Local governments across the United States are in the process of competing for $527 million worth of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) III funds. The deadline for applications was October 31, and the City of Cincinnati once again has applied for funds.

Cincinnati’s TIGER III application requests $56.8 million for phase one of the Cincinnati Streetcar. City officials say that the money will go to immediately restore the project’s segments that were eliminated following Governor Kasish’s (R) controversial reallocation of $52 million in early 2011.

READ MORE: http://www.urbancincy.com/2011/11/cincinnati-submits-56-8m-tiger-iii-application-to-fund-modern-streetcar-extension/

Posted 6 months ago #