MADISONVILLE, Ohio — Beside a TV hooked up to a laptop, there’s a bingo board. On the television screen, a Cincinnati Planning Commission meeting is playing. Here in Madisonville, the people at St. Paul Village skipped exercise class for this.
As they wait for their turn to speak at a public meeting, they talk about traffic. And they talk about steps Cincinnati and Madisonville officials have taken to try to help a neighborhood often used as a cut-through to get to Interstate 71.
“It ain’t working," said Ann Bolton, who gathered the residents.
On Madison Road, a recent traffic study revealed virtually every vehicle on the street is speeding. In some sections, cars reached speeds of more than 70 and 90 mph.
“It’s frightening,” said Melody McDonnell. “I don’t even dare try to get to the bus across the street from us.”
McDonnell is legally blind, so she walks and rides the bus everywhere she goes. She’s sitting across the table from Bolton, scribbling on a note card in big bold letters. She’s preparing to speak to the planning commission, hoping to convince them that a proposed six-story parking garage next door is too much.
"Oh yeah, they don't even stop at the stop sign on Stewart (Road),” said Joyce Howard, another Madisonville resident.
Howard has lived in Madisonville her entire life, and she’s worried about what the continued growth of Medpace is doing to her community.
“They don’t call it Madisonville,” Howard said of Medpace officials. “They call it their village.”
And to some of the residents at St. Paul Village, it feels like the clinical research company headquartered in Madisonville is taking over. City and state officials recently approved more than $100 million in tax incentives for Medpace, and the company plans to add 1,500 employees. Those employees are going to need somewhere to park, and the answer the company came up with is next door to this retirement community.
"I think it's going to be pretty dangerous," Howard said.
While the new garage is being constructed, Howard and others are worried employees will cut through the residential neighborhood abutting the Medpace campus. It's something the neighborhood's community council worries about too.
“Welcome to Madisonville,” said Kerry Devery. “Please slow down.”
Devery smiles, because he knows speeding is out of control in Madisonville. Devery used to be the Community Council president, and now he heads up transportation issues for them. He said Medpace has been a good neighbor who's accessible to the community, even if he and others don’t always like their answers.
"Every addition to their campus is going to bring more cars to the neighborhood," Devery said.
Recently, he said Medpace agreed to pay for three speed humps near the proposed parking garage. But he also said the company owns more land and will likely expand again at some point. Devery said residents worry more expansion will continue to push vehicles onto side streets, with people trying to avoid Madison Road.
Medpace’s top attorney told us their goal is to keep that from happening as much as possible. That's why they worked with Cincinnati officials to put a new light on Red Bank Road and Medpace Way, according to Steve Ewald, general counsel for Medpace.
Ewald acknowledged the company’s growth has increased traffic in Madisonville, but he says that growth has come with more positives than negatives.
At a meeting Thursday night, officials announced the company is building temporary lots for employees during construction. And on Friday, Cincinnati’s planning commission approved Medpace’s parking garage plan. Cincinnati Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, who serves on the commission, even praised Medpace for their community engagement.
The commission's approval means construction on the garage can now begin. At St. Paul Village, residents were left frustrated, questioning whether they’d really been heard.
Asked if she felt like Medpace listened to their concerns, Howard responded flatly.
"No," she said.
