Hate sitting in Rookwood traffic? Know a "shortcut?" ...Did it involve Arbor, Atlantic, or Hyde Park Avenues?

That's too bad for you, at least if some residents at the ends of these streets and certain members of the Oakley Community Council successfully convince the City of Cincinnati to go with their plan. You can just sit there in traffic until it clears – which during the holidays, will be quite awhile, because if it’s up to them and their newly erected, soon to be permanent barriers, there will be no possible alternate routes to escape the increased gridlock on Edwards Road. Our shortcuts, these alternate options for travel and access to our neighborhood and homes, will be history unless you act.

These property owners stand to have their property values go up by thousands of dollars should the city accede to their wishes, re-engineer traffic, and turn these streets into dead-end cul-de-sacs. All it costs them is your inconvenience. When they approached Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering with the idea, they were told "No." due to access issues, and rightfully so. As Michael Moore, the DTOE department director put it “Anytime you close a street, you lose some connectivity. Our experience is that you can push traffic around to other areas and create some problems where there weren’t problems before.”

The DTOE is correct that it creates some problems; for everyone ELSE in the neighborhood. Many of us live on much busier Oakley roads than these, but we don't get barricades on our streets, because access and travel has to be maintained. This is a self-centered move by these residents that benefits their property values at the expense of the commute times and convenience of everyone else that lives in the surrounding neighborhood. The manner that they went about pursuing these changes could be called "sneaky'; absent any public postings, with minimal public notifications, zero informative signage, and with festive wreathes and garland on them, one could easily make the assumption that these are temporary barriers for the Christmas shopping season. They're not temporary. They are here to stay, and will be replaced by permanent construction unless you make your voice heard.

This petition will be presented to the City of Cincinnati DTOE and City Council. Sign up to assert your right to commuter options and easy access to YOUR home.

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