The City of Cincinnati took a big step last week to help out the two-wheeled motorists traveling in its borders.
They voted to set aside funding to maintain, improve and expand a free parking program for motorcycles and mopeds in Cincinnati. The next two spaces will be built in Clifton; one on McMIllan and one on Calhoun streets, in the next two months.
A pilot project begun in 2009 provided a few parking spaces for motorcycles and mopeds downtown, mostly near
Fountain Square. The spaces were striped for three or five bikes at time but motorists quickly maximized the use of that space, packing in as many as 10 and sometimes overflowing onto the sidewalks or adjacent spaces.
"Basically every spot was having twice as many vehicles parked in it as we anticipated," Melissa McVay, a planner in the Transportation and Engineering department who works on the project, said.
The overwhelming response encouraged the department to expand the project, and propose two-wheeled parking fees to fund construction of new spaces. The council was adamant that the spaces remain free, McVay said, and they opened access to another funding source last week.
The new corral-type spaces will allow motorists to "self-regulate" the layout of their bikes in the most efficient way possible within a painted border, she said.
"Riders are very respectful towards each other," McVay said. "They pack them in as closely as they can."
The city's director of transportation and engineering, Michael Moore, said his department plans to install motorcycle and motor scooter parking spaces downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods as new streetscape and sidewalk improvement work allows.
Three more spots were planned during the pilot phase, but the city will contact two-wheeler communities to see if they still consider the new locations to be ideal before they are constructed, McVay said. One is slated for Central Parkway near the
Coffee Emporium, a second on Main Street behind the Aronoff, and a third near the intersection of McFarland and Elm Streets.
McVay said the project was begun because riders are not allowed in most parking garages downtown. She said she thought the program has already encouraged people to choose their two-wheeled mode of transit over their car.
A map of current locations can be found
here - anyone interested in suggesting locations for new spots, or providing feedback on the three mentioned above is encouraged to email
[email protected].
Writer: Henry Sweets
Photography by
Scott Beseler
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