CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council passed an amendment Wednesday that hopes to bring solutions to gridlock traffic in downtown Cincinnati.
Thousands have dealt with bumper-to-bumper traffic — with no real relief — for the last six weeks since a fire shut down a portion of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge (Big Mac Bridge).
“We've heard from a lot of community members about the pain and the suffering that comes with sitting in traffic,” city council member Evan Nolan said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) told WCPO 9 News that they are on track for construction of the Big Mac Bridge to be completed in mid-March. But some state officials want it done quicker.
“We've got a target date of mid-March but frankly, I'm pushing ODOT, and I think we can get them up sooner than that,” Gov. Mike DeWine said while on WLW700 on Tuesday. “I hope as early as mid-February.”
We reached out to ODOT about what DeWine had said. They told us that they would let the governor's comment stand on its own.
In the meantime, the city will look for solutions to the traffic backup downtown. Whether any solutions will make a meaningful difference downtown is still a question.
“We’re challenging the city, the leadership here take the lead and bring those 7 plus jurisdictions together to say how can we really work together and make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can to try and ease congestion as much as possible,” council member Seth Walsh said.
One possible solution proposed is diverting traffic from I-71, I-75 and I-74 to the I-275 loop.
“There are issues and concerns with it, you know you wanna make sure there is no unintended consequences but the concept and principal…certainly is worth exploring,” council member Mark Jeffreys said.
Council pro tem Victoria Parks and member Scotty Johnson both voted against the amendment. Parks said the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council's work is sufficient. Johnson said what can be done has been done.
“I know the police chief and the city administration is doing everything that they possibly can to help calm this situation,” Johnson said.
Amendment supporters agree the city has been doing a good job.
“The city has already taken a very proactive leadership stance on this,” Walsh said.
But they say more can always be done.
“There’s always more we can do to keep pushing that envelope,” said Walsh.
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