CINCINNATI — The public was invited to ask questions and give input about the Brent Spence Bridge Project — a $3.6 billion project looking to not only better connect Ohio and Kentucky, but also downtown Cincinnati and the West End — during a meeting Wednesday organized by GBBN Architects and the West End Community Council.
No one from ODOT attended Wednesday's meeting, but those who ran the meeting assured everyone there that ODOT would hear their feedback.
"(We've got) public meetings, town halls with lots of voices, but most of the people in those meetings don't have any power," said Robert Park, Sierra Club.
For those inside the Cincinnati History Museum Wednesday, the Brent Spence Bridge Project could be a symbol to heal, making up for some of the sins of the city's past.
"To help write a historic wrong," said Robert Killins. "The displacement, unfortunately, of low income and in this city predominately African Americans is continuing because of the high cost of housing. I just think we have an opportunity to work our local form of government and the federal government to do the right thing and focus not on the cost but on the value."
Kent Ahrenholtz of Kaskaskia Engineering Group showed three different designs of what the bridge could look like, including ODOT's plan, Bridge Forward's plan and a design that meets the two in the middle. ODOT's plan reclaims 10 acres of land, whereas Bridge Forward's current plan reclaims 25 acres.
"Currently underutilized land, so adjacent to our downtown," said Annie White, Karp Strategies. "Just the efficiencies you can find from encouraging new residents and businesses to locate in urban cores versus the outskirts you save in utilities transportation costs. I mean it's very rare to basically have new land appear next to a (central business district)."
Former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley supporting Bridge Forward plan, speaking at meeting about pushing residents to ask for more money for this project saying ODOT acknowledges BF’s plan is good but state’s plan has better “construtability.” pic.twitter.com/B3h7uqpv2v
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) June 21, 2023
Former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, who has been working with Bridge Forward to advocate for its alternate design explained that it reclaims more land but is more expensive than ODOT's.
"A question for everybody in this room — are we willing to ask our elected officials to chip in to get a better plan?" said Cranley. "The decision to go horizontal was why we had such a terrible design in the 1950s it displaced tens of thousands of people in the West End," said Cranley. "The question is, are we going to repeat that historical mistake or not?"
WCPO asked ODOT about the bidding process and a representative said ODOT is in the "procurement phase," but said they hope to make an announcement "soon."
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