Plans to reconstruct a stretch of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive between Camp Washington and Clifton will drastically change the landscape there while improving safety for motorists and access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Thirty buildings on the north side of MLK between McMicken Ave. and Dixmyth Ave. will be razed to make way for wider lanes and a bike path. The on-street parking currently available in front of the homes, which cause numerous accidents every year, will be removed. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2014.
The MLK West improvements, which run from McMicken to Clifton Ave., will include a new median, sidewalks and wider lanes in areas. A 12-ft-wide off-street "multi-use" path will run the complete length of the project, and will connect with a path planned as a part of ODOT improvements near the I-75 Hopple Street interchange at the bottom of the hill. When both projects are completed, bicyclists and pedestrians will be able to travel from Clifton to Camp Washington on a path separated from the road by several feet of grass. The intersection of MLK and Clifton will be reconstructed to improve pedestrian safety and traffic congestion there.
The plans were selected from several different options that had been floated to the community in past public forums. At a recent public comment meeting on the project, the public left no comments. Project manager Andrea Henderson from the City's Department of Transportation and Engineering took that as a sign that the right option was chosen, she said.
"This was the most cost effective and actually the most desired option, so we were very happy we didn't have to force this alternative on anyone," she said.
Between Dixmyth and Clifton avenues - the eastern portion of the project - property on both sides of MLK is owned by the park system and Henderson said a median and lane expansion were not planned for that area, just the bike path.
Residents of the buildings who must be relocated by the City of Cincinnati include University of Cincinnati Students and elderly residents, Henderson said. The process of relocation could prove difficult for some, she said.
"I suspect that UC students renting there will have no problem finding another place, but it's the older people, or people with some sort of issues, that might need a lot of help and its our obligation to help them," she said.
Writer: Henry Sweets
Photography by Scott Beseler.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.