Cincinnati Council is expected to approve spending about $300,000 for a traffic study in Downtown Cincinnati.

A committee approved the ordinance Wednesday and the full council will vote Thursday afternoon.

Money for the study is coming from leftover streetcar construction funds.

"We have not had a traffic study in 20 years and so it's important that we have one regularly as traffic patterns change throughout the city to help accommodate all vehicles and pedestrians that are in Downtown," said council member Amy Murray. "So this would be a traffic study to look at what the traffic patterns are right now and how the city should address them."

The study will review all transportation including cars, buses, and the streetcars.

City council would likely have to approve any changes or recommendations to traffic patterns that come from the study.

Some streetcar supporters have complained that issues with traffic signals are slowing down the streetcar and making it difficult to make station stops on time.

Mayor John Cranley criticized such a traffic study during a meeting October.

"Now we're going to go hire some high-priced consultants to study the traffic lights and the original intent of the motion was to give the streetcar priority over commuters coming into Downtown," Cranley said at the time. "I think it's a big waste of money."

Cranley could veto the ordinance authorizing the traffic study. But council should have enough votes to override veto.

