CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Council on Wednesday approved narrowing a roughly 3.5-mile stretch of Harrison Avenue that runs through South Fairmount and Westwood. The goal is to slow down traffic and make it safer for people to walk and bike in the area.
The project's approval comes days after a fatal head-on crash on Harrison Avenue where one woman died. Cincinnati police said speed could be one of the factors. For this project, city leaders cite that there have been a "high number" of crashes on Harrison Avenue, and now they think they have a solution.
Starting in the spring of 2025, Harrison Avenue will go from four lanes to three, with just one lane in each direction and a center turn lane, as well as parking on one side of the street.
"This has been a concern of everybody," said Cathy Cooper, who works in Westwood. "Fingers crossed that it accomplishes what the neighborhood and what the merchants and everyone in the area would like it to be and time will tell."
Drivers in the area can see memorials at the intersection of Harrison and White, as well as at the site of another fatal crash blocks away where Harrison meets Sarvis Court.
"Mini highways throughout the city," said Councilmember Mark Jeffreys. "A lot of these roads were designed to get people in and out of the city quickly, and the neighborhood in the middle be damned."
Jeffreys said the $6.1 million grant from the federal government for this project is a way to not only reclaim neighborhoods but keep people safe.
"What do we value more do we value the safety of our citizens and the lives of our citizens or do we value getting to our destination 20, 30 seconds faster," Jeffreys said.
City data shows that just this year there have been 281 crashes on Harrison between Queen City Avenue and Kling Avenue, which is the very section that will be impacted.
"Being able to channel this traffic here to a slower pace, I'm glad they did vote today to do something about the traffic," said Cooper.
Cooper has personally seen people almost getting hit by cars, with drivers not paying attention and driving on the sidewalks.
"They're probably still going 50 and if they're on this inside lane against the sidewalk and you're trying to pull out, you just slam on the brakes because you're going to get hit," said Cooper.
Greg Hand with Westwood Community Urban Redevelopment Perspective said the need is to slow down traffic coming from both downtown and Cheviot.
"This is a changing city ... patterns that were effective in the past no longer apply," Hand said.
On top of the $6.1 million grant from the federal government, Jeffreys said the city will throw in another $2 million for the project which is expected to start in the spring of 2025.
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