Save Our Shortcuts!
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. 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.