OTR's Main may become two-way street

A quarter-mile stretch of Main Street in Over-the-Rhine could be converted into a two-way thoroughfare after a neighborhood business group's request.

The city of Cincinnati expects to complete a study in April on the potential impact and cost of making the changes on Main Street between 12th and Liberty streets, said Michael Moore, director of the city's department of transportation and engineering.

The request from a group of Main Street business owners was built on three things: calming traffic speeds, improving pedestrian comfort, and promoting better vehicular accessibility to the businesses, Moore said.

An open house has already been scheduled for April 26 at the Woodward Theater at 6 p.m. and at the meeting, the city will provide a preliminary recommendation on its findings and gather feedback from attendees. Through a spokesman, Moore declined to provide details about the study's early findings Thursday other than to say it was still in progress.

Main Street has two travel lanes and two parking lanes between Central Parkway and Liberty Street. Traffic flows in a northbound direction from Central to Liberty. Main Street becomes a two-way street north of Liberty.

Cincinnati's streetcar will travel north on Main Street from Central before turning left on 12th. The tracks are located on the left side of Main.

"The purpose of making it two ways would be to increase traffic and give those businesses on Main Street a chance at more business," said Sean

Suder, chair of Graydon Head's commercial real estate group. The law firm opened a 2,000-square-foot, street-level office at 1421 Main St. earlier this year. "What you have there now is a one-way route to get to I-71 and I-471. It's pretty much a commuter route out of the city. Traffic moves pretty quickly out there at a higher speed than what's comfortable for pedestrians."

And as a result of those speeds, Suder said it becomes less likely people stop and request the shops on the street. He also said two-way streets also support the conservation of gasoline and as a result carbon emissions if people don't have to drive around the block to find parking.

Turning a one-way street into a two-way street is no small feat. Pedestrian signs and street lights are among the physical elements of the streetscape that have to change. Then, there's the training for drivers and pedestrians themselves.

But if there’s a proxy for the two-way street conversion, there’s Vine Street in the neighborhood and McMillan Street and William Howard Taft Road in Walnut Hills. Vine became a two-way street in the late 1990s and McMillan and Taft were converted to two-way streets in fall 2012, Moore said.

"For what was a fairly inexpensive and relatively small transportation change, it helped reshape how people interacted with the community," said Kevin Wright, development director for the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation. "It made it more accessible, safer and opened the door for reinvestment."

Urban development experts including Jeff Speck, who visited Cincinnati last fall, advocate for the conversion of one-way streets to have two travel directions to increase retail and pedestrian traffic in areas, said Seth Maney, Urban Sites executive vice president and Main Street OTR Business District president. With the proliferation of the automobile in the 20th century, communities including Cincinnati moved to developing one-way streets in an effort to improve traffic flow.

Over-the-Rhine Community Council President Ryan Messer said he's glad the study is taking place. Messer wants the city to fund the improvements because it could facilitate more activity within one of the neighborhood's oldest business district.

City Council is primed to approve 12 years of property tax abatement on Urban Sites' properties at 122 E. 12th St., 1134-48 Main St. and 1203 Main St. The Over-the-Rhine-based real estate developer plans to spend $1.1 million to renovate the vacant upper floors of the buildings, which feature Mixx Ultra Lounge, the Drinkery and Japp's at the street level, to create 40,000 square feet of office space.