Charrette Week kicks off for Revive I-75

The City of Cincinnati is enlisting the help of Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates (UDA) to reconnect and redesign several neighborhood areas that were torn apart by the construction of Interstate 75 decades ago.

To accomplish this, UDA is examining four areas along the I-75 corridor through Cincinnati in an effort being called the Revive I-75 Corridor Study.  The project team said early on that the success of the project will hinge upon public involvement and effectiveness of the overall planning process.

"We've worked in many cities for municipalities and development authorities, and we always engage the community in the planning process.  The first step is to meet as many people and discuss the issues - that's when we really learn about the project areas," said UDA principal Paul Ostergaard.

Urban Design Associates and the project team are in town this week to host a charrette week -throughout the week, UDA will be hosting a variety of design workshops where sketch artists will work on preliminary design concepts while members of Cincinnati City Council and Revive I-75 steering committee members will be on hand to provide feedback.

Following these design workshops and feedback sessions, there will be a public meeting that will mark the end of Charrette Week at Cincinnati State (map).  The public meeting takes place on Thursday, January 14 from 6pm to 8pm, and will present the initial design concepts and plans.  From there UDA will have breakout sessions so that attendees can provide feedback on the ideas, much like they did at a previous meeting held last November at Cincinnati State.  Findings from that meeting are available online for public review .

Writer: Randy A. Simes
Photography by Scott Beseler
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