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Important Meeting on Riverside Drive, April 14

Please come and give your feedback! A public open house to see alternatives the City of Cincinnati has prepared for Riverside Drive, including potential bike lanes or a shared use path is scheduled for:

Thursday, April 14 · 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Leblond Recreation Center
2335 Riverside Drive
Cincinnati, OH

This is a followup to a meeting hosted by the East End Community Council last year about improving Riverside Drive and enhancing the neighborhood. It is separate from the proposed trail along the currently active Oasis rail line (which we will refer to as the "Oasis trail" to lessen confusion).

Little Miami Trail Extension: Open House at Lunken Tuesday 3/1

The Hamilton County Park District, in cooperation with Anderson Township and the City of Cincinnati, will hold an open house public meeting for the planned extension of the Little Miami Scenic Trail from the SR 32/Beechmont Avenue interchange to the future Ohio River Trail. The future Ohio River Trail will extend east along Kellogg Avenue (US 52) from Cincinnati to New Richmond, Ohio.

The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 1, 2011 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Lunken Airport Main Terminal Lobby. The public is welcome to attend at any time during the two-hour open house meeting.

The Hamilton County Park District recently completed a Feasibility Study to determine whether the Little Miami Scenic Trail extension should be located in the “Elstun Corridor” (which extends south between Elstun Road and the Little Miami River and terminates at the Magrish Preserve), or in the “Beechmont Corridor” (which extends west along Beechmont Avenue and connects to the Armleder/Lunken Airport Trail system). This public meeting is being held to present the findings of the Feasibility Study and to solicit public input on the study recommendations.

Comments can be submitted at the meeting or mailed to the Hamilton County Park District by March 16, 2011. Individuals who may require interpretation services or special assistance to participate in this meeting should contact Kevin Brill or Ross Hamre of the Hamilton County Park District 5 to 7 days prior to the meeting for arrangements to be made.

Hamilton County Park District Contact Information: Kevin Brill or Ross Hamre (513-728-3551). 10245 Winton Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45231.

Winter Bike Day!

We've just decided that this Thursday, February 10, is Winter Bike Day!

Get on your bike and ride. To school, to work, or just around the block.

The Coffee Emporiums on Erie in Hyde Park and on Central Parkway in Over-the-Rhine, and Park + Vine on Main Street, are offering a free hot beverage to anyone arriving by bike all day to celebrate.

If you want to start your day with comradery on your commute, two rides are planned. Frank Henson will be leading a ride from Hyde Park to downtown, departing from the Coffee Emporium on Erie at 7 am to the Coffee Emporium on Central Parkway that morning. People will start assembling at 6:30 am.

Jess Linz will be leading a ride from Northside to downtown from Sidewinder Coffee (4181 Hamilton Ave.) at 8 am. People will start assembling at 7:45am.

Blow away those winter blues. Ride anywhere and put a smile on your face. And a hot drink in your stomach.

This Thursday, February 10, 2011. The very first impromptu Winter Bike Day in Cincinnati.

MLK Shared Use Path Proposed

A shared-use path (that means bicycles and pedestrians) along the north side of MLK from the bottom of the hill near McMicken to Clifton at the top, interrupted only by Dixmuth St, is part of the "Recommended Alternative" for MLK that will be the subject of a public hearing scheduled for

4:30 to 7:00 PM

Thursday, February 3rd

Fairview-Clifton German Language School Cafeteria

3689 Clifton Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45220.

If you live or ride in the area, this is a great time to attend and let the City know what you think.

The updated meeting displays are available on the City’s project website: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/noncms/transeng/mlk/ . Scroll to the bottom for the PDF's of the "Recommended Alternative West" and "Recommended Alternative East".

Harrison Av Input Needed!

The West Side is especially difficult to navigate by bike, and as a result, ridership is lower than in and around Northside, Downtown, and the East Side. If you ride on the West Side, or would consider doing so if conditions were improved, you may be able to begin changing that.

The section of Harrison between Kling Avenue and Queen City Avenue shown on the map is scheduled for improvements next year, and the City of Cincinnati's Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) is soliciting input on two options for this stretch of the road. One of the two options they are considering would put bike lanes on Harrison Avenue as part of a 'road diet'.

Please review the City's proposed changes, and provide your feedback by December 31 here: www.cincinnati-oh.gov/harrison (click on "Harrison Striping Concepts" in the left navigation bar).

Concept 1 essentially leaves this part of Harrison unchanged, with two travel lanes in each direction with morning and evening parking restrictions.

Concept 2, the 'road diet', would put in place one travel lane in each direction, a center two-way left turn lane, and bicycle lanes on both sides.

If you have questions, you can contact Andréa Henderson (Project Manager) directly at at 513-352-6236, or via e-mail at andrea.henderson@cincinnati-oh.gov.

Thank you!

PS: Be sure to click on the link on the City's page to provide your feedback. Let them know if you would like to see a road diet with bike lanes on Harrison.

NKY's YMCA Camp Ernst Wins Grant for New Bikes

Camp Ernst, the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati's adventure camp for kids ages 6 to 15, has been awarded a Paula Nye Memorial Grant by the Kentucky Bicycle and Bikeway Commission for $7600 that will be used to purchase eight new bikes and provide funding for helmets, training,  program leadership and promotion. 

Below is a note from Bill Easley, Program Coordinator, describing the grant and some of the bike program features that are part of what Camp Ernst's has to offer:

With the eight new bikes we will acquire from this new grant, Camp Ernst will have 30 bikes in our "fleet".  All are under two years old and in excellent condition.  15 of the bikes are used for touring and light off road trips.

Our off road trail and dirt pump track design was donated by Jay Hein of Mechanical Edge LLC.  The Powerline trails were built in 2010 by volunteers and friends of YMCA Camp Ernst.  Equipment for the project was donated from businesses and friends of the camp.  Our blacktop bike skills pad and off road trail signs were donated by two private donors.  Our pump track was constructed by local mountain bike racer Dave Huff, who donated his time to the project.  Dave is expanding the pump track to include an oval for beginning riders and this project will be ready for the 2011 summer campers.  We expect to add additional loops to our off road trails in the wooded area connected to the Powerlines that traverse the camp property.

YMCA Camp Ernst is actively seeking additional support for its youth cycling initiatives from a variety of individuals and corporate sources.  Anyone interested in supporting the cycling programs is encouraged to contact YMCA Camp Ernst at (859) 586-6181 and speak with Bill Easley, the full time Program Coordinator with the Y.

Camp Ernst is located at 7615 Camp Ernst Road, Burlington, KY, 41005.