Oasis bike trail receives big boost
The proposal to build an East Side recreation trail has received a major boost, but the project still faces some hurdles before you can jump on your bike and head Downtown.
A Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority subcommittee on Friday recommended converting part of the Oasis railway between Downtown and Lunken Airport into a bike and pedestrian trail – SORTA's first official position on the project.
It's a big victory for several East Side residents, real estate developers and cycling enthusiasts who have been working for nearly a decade to get the trail done. The project also has strong bipartisan support from local, state and federal officials.
"To get SORTA off dead-center and to be in favor of taking the next step is huge," said Wym Portman, a board member of Ohio River Way, a nonprofit advocating for the trail.
The transit authority owns the right-of-way access to the Oasis corridor, and thus calls the shots on how the railway can be used. The SORTA board is expected to vote on the subcommittee's recommendation at its monthly meeting on March 17, and there is a strong chance the board will approve the project.
Board members are appointed by the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County – and Mayor John Cranley and City Council and all three county commissioners support building the trail.
A fight could be on the horizon, though. The railroad company that uses part of the Oasis corridor to move freight each day opposes building the trail. Four executives from Genesee & Wyoming told subcommittee members that the company has safety concerns and wants to protect its business interests in the corridor.
"Our legal team is looking into it, and we'll go from there," general manager Charles Logan told The Enquirer.
The Oasis line is two parallel-running railroad tracks located between U.S. 50/Columbia Parkway and Riverside Drive/Kellogg Avenue, near the Ohio River. The $4 million project, which would be paid for mostly by private money, calls for about 4 1/2 miles of the unused north tracks to be converted into a paved trail.
Slow-moving freight trains – which go a maximum of 10 mph – use the south tracks about twice a day. Genesee & Wyoming carries freight for one company located in the corridor – the Cincinnati Barge and Rail Terminal, which is one mile east of the Montgomery Inn Boathouse on Riverside Drive.
The railroad company would continue to have around-the-clock access to the south tracks. Genesee & Wyoming sent a letter to SORTA in January saying it plans to start moving freight on the north tracks, which haven't been used regularly since the 1980s. Weeds and bushes have grown over the north tracks.
SORTA has owned the Oasis right-of-way since 1994, and the four-person subcommittee was formed in December after City Council made the bike trail project a priority in October. SORTA board members Brendon Cull and Gwen Robinson questioned railroad executives in the meeting about the timing of their interest in using the north tracks.
"All of a sudden, there is talk about this trail and we're getting letters saying you intend to use this," said Cull, head of the subcommittee. "I'm skeptical."
Genesee & Wyoming officials provided few details about their plans for the north tracks when Robinson asked. Company Vice President Martin Pohlod said G&W intended to add about 30 additional rail cars a day, but refused to provide detailed plans.
Liability also is a big concern, Genesee & Wyoming officials say. Logan showed an Enquirer reporter photos of five derailments involving slow-moving trains across the U.S. in recent years.
"Anything can happen – a broken rail, people not being attentive," Logan said. "These accidents are unforgiving (to people). It's not something that's fixed with a Band-Aid."
Cull and subcommittee members said SORTA will continue to consider the concerns of the companies that rely on the freight line. A resolution introduced Friday by the subcommittee called for the SORTA administration to design the trail with input from those companies. The resolution also said the corridor must be preserved for potential passenger rail service someday.
The subcommittee reviewed the history of the corridor, looked at safety issues and talked to several stakeholders. Ohio River Way officials say they have extensively researched projects across the U.S. where a bike trail has been built near an active railroad line. The group says such projects are safe, and has vowed to build a fence separating the trail and freight line.
Ohio River Way has pushed for the project to be built since 2006. The group raised nearly $1 million to build the trail and has promised to cover most of the remaining costs with private donations. The group says the trail will help draw new residents to the urban core; the corridor is located near prime land for potential residential redevelopment.
Cranley and City Councilwoman Amy Murray have led efforts at City Hall to get the project going. Ohio's U.S. senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and Hamilton County Commissioners Greg Hartmann and Chris Monzel all recently sent letters to SORTA calling for the bike trail to be built.
"This project is critical, and it will be transformative for the city," Murray said.