CINCINNATI — Colerain Avenue is one of the main roads to and from Cincinnati’s west side. For Scott Hand, it’s also a home address.
“We should probably be wearing vests because this is dangerous,” Hand said, standing on the sidewalk in front of his house as cars whizzed by. “It’s dangerous just to be here.”
Traffic counts collected by Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering tell the story.
Back in August, the division of Traffic Engineering used cables at the intersection of Colerain Avenue and North of Leeper Street to record each car’s speed.
Data reviewed by WCPO for Wednesday, Aug. 21 shows of the nearly 22,000 vehicles that passed the cable, 76% of the cars were traveling faster than the 35 miles per hour posted speed limit.
Of the drivers heading down the steep southbound incline, 33% were traveling 10 or more miles per hour above the speed limit.
“The cars going downhill are already exceeding the speed limit, even without using the gas,” Hand said.
The city’s recorded data, he said, is justification for what he already knew: “We started a spreadsheet, but ultimately lost track of the number of crashes that have happened.”
Shortly after the interview concluded, another crash occurred between two cars. Both drivers were OK.
It happened just feet from a Metro bus stop across from an apartment complex. Because the crossing path is unmarked, neighbors say they need to dodge traffic to get to the pick-up point.
To help slow drivers down, the city installed “road tattoos” that mark the speed limit and radar speed signs. Hand said he’s noticed a slight difference, but most drivers disregard it.
“It’s not working,” he said.
A different solution is now in the works. Earlier this month, Mayor Aftab Pureval allotted $500,000 for speed cushions along the stretch of road. The funds are coming out of the $65 million from last year's budget.
Speaking to council members, Pureval said Colerain Avenue was a “hotspot” in “need of additional safety measures.”
In an email to WCPO, senior city planner Melissa McVay said a total of 16 speed cushions will be installed at four locations. Each of the following locations will get one set:
- 5229 Colerain
- 5081 Colerain
- Colerain at Raeburn
- 4550 Colerain
“Construction is weather dependent, but we hope to have these installed by the end of the year,” McVay said in an email.
The exact stretch of road is a four-lane incline, a terrain Pureval called “a challenging part of our city’s infrastructure.”
“We’ve got to slow cars down there,” he said.
The addition is welcome news for nearby resident Nick Klingensmith, who said he warns family and friends to take extra caution when using the intersection of Colerain and Raeburn.
“I don't necessarily want to blame the drivers, but it's an enormous hill,” he said. “They come through here and will skip this red light.”
Klingensmith, who had driven the road before moving nearby with his family, likened the experience to watching basketball on TV in that it’s difficult to tell how fast the players are moving until you sit courtside.
“When you’re just with the flow of traffic, you can’t pick up on that people are going 50, 60 until you stand out here and see a giant accident,” he said.
