Interstate highway construction in Northern Kentucky delays a bicycle
project for a busy Cincinnati street. Bike lanes were supposed to go
on Riverside Drive from near the Montgomery Inn Boathouse out to Delta
Avenue. Local 12 News reporter Jeff Hirsh explains what led to the
delay and when the changes might actually happen.

Lane reconstruction begins next week on I-275 and I-471. Alternate
routes are being suggested. And one possible alternate for people
trying to get from the eastern suburbs to downtown is Riverside Drive.
So for now at least, the city does not want to take out any lanes for
bikes which makes cyclists rather unhappy. "On the rainy days, I don't
expect everybody to get out on the rainy days. I do it because I'm
dedicated to it."

Nern Ostendorf is the Executive Director of Queen City Bike, an
advocacy group. That group, in fact, a lot of people want a lane on
Riverside Drive turned into a bicycle lane. "Gas prices are not going
to keep getting lower and that's going to hurt people where it
matters."

The city was going to do it but now, Riverside Drive may be seeing
hundreds more cars a day as commuters use the road to get around
construction on I-275 and I-471. So the city has temporarily postponed
putting the bike lane in, which cyclists see as a big mistake. "I
likened it to a Supreme Court decision. This is the first time where a
conflict of interest between bicycles and pedestrians and cars has
come up. I worry that if we decide to prioritize cars first it will
happen again and again."

Ostendorf fears a delay will kill the bike lane. Not so, says the
city's Director of Transportation, Michael Moore. Moore says the city
will evaluate how much new traffic shows up because of the interstate
construction and then delay the project accordingly. It could be up to
two years, perhaps just a few months.

Putting a bike lane here may not turn Riverside Drive into a Parisian
boulevard, but you won't have cars and trucks zooming by, at least not
as many not as fast. And to bicycle advocates that is a big deal.
"Bicycle traffic makes people feel like they live in a great place."

Ostendorf says Columbia Parkway is a better alternate than Riverside
Drive anyway. But the city wants to see what happens. The city is not
suggesting Riverside Drive as an alternate, but if people use it as a
detour, it could be a huge mess if any lanes are removed.

The city was actually going to put the bike lane in last summer, but
bad weather made construction impossible.

(Video at website)

http://www.local12.com/news/local/st...0G2uAdnTQ.cspx

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