Narrowing the seven-lane Liberty Street speedway that cuts through Over-the-Rhine is seven years in the making, boasts at least three council votes approving it and is aimed at improving pedestrian safety.

With one more vote scheduled for Wednesday, will narrowing the street to five lanes actually, finally, get done?

Councilman Jeff Pastor is the swing vote and he's not saying at this point.

But as FC Cincinnati begins building its Major League Soccer Stadium, the question now is: are fewer lanes on a main artery into the West End near the stadium still a good idea?

Mark Samaan, 24, of Northside, said he often takes the bus downtown and walks – and that typically means having to cross Liberty Street.

"The best way to learn why Liberty needs (narrowing) is to cross it multiple times a day," Samaan said. "I’m a 20-something male and I hate crossing it. Couldn’t imagine crossing with a walker or with a couple kids in tow."

Supporters say pedestrian safety trumps everything.

Opponents say it may make access to the stadium harder, and also eliminates parking, which is already in short supply in Over-the-Rhine.

The three neighborhoods Liberty Street runs through – Over-the-Rhine, Mount Auburn and Pendleton – have all weighed in.

The OTR Community Council voted for the plan three times. The Mount Auburn Community County voted for the plan two times. Pendleton Community Council last month came out against the idea. It wants fixes like crosswalks and lights, which Cranley promised instead, but council nixed.

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Councilman Chris Seelbach, who has championed the project from the get-go, says it's time to do it.

"Half a dozen votes have occurred to approve this project," he said. "The City Manager knows where council and the community stand." and it’s time for him to get this done.”

Supporting him: P.G. Sittenfeld, Tamaya Dennard, Wendell Young and Greg Landsman.

Mayor John Cranley said the Liberty Street plan doesn't work. He'd rather see so-called "bump-outs" added. Bump-outs extend the sidewalk by about 6 feet, narrowing the road at intersections, which slows traffic.

Eliminating parking in those outer lanes is another concern, Cranley said. But Seelbach counters that the county is expected to build garages near the FC Cincinnati, which would make up for any lost spaces.

He doesn't have a vote, but he has council members supporting him: Christopher Smitherman, Amy Murray and David Mann.

"The city needs to make sure that downtown remains accessible to the whole region because it is that tax base that pays for the services for all 52 neighborhoods," Cranley said.

Councilman Jeff Pastor has cast past votes on both sides of the issue. He did not return a call for comment.

With only five votes, Cranley could veto the project.

Today Liberty Street is a seven-lane highway that cuts through Over-the-Rhine, creating a north and south part of the historic neighborhood. The mantra to anyone who has to cross it: Cross at your own peril. Roughly 16,000 vehicles drive it every day. The speed limit is 30 miles per hour, but anyone who has driven on it knows people often drive well over that.

Last September city officials tried to quietly kill the project, with new City Manager Patrick Duhaney outlining in a memo why the project simply isn't feasible anymore.

The memo didn't mention FC Cincinnati, but some council members suspected that was the real reason the narrowing wouldn't get done.

But they still wanted the Liberty Street project to go forward. The following month council found $3.4 million for the project, identifying exactly where the money would come from.

The months slid by. Council to city manager in February: Why aren't you starting the project?They were told the ordinance didn't specifically cite the five-land plan.

Then in March, there were dueling motions. One from Seelbach to do it. One from Cranley that didn't say it was killing the project, but essentially killed it.

At this point Pendleton Community Council came out against the project. Cranley pledged to them $2 million in other safety projects for the road and they liked that plan better.

No surprise: Council voted to do it. But because it had been changed, it would need to be re-referred to council. And that's what is set to happen Wednesday.

Transit and pedestrian safety activist Derek Bauman hopes the plan will prevail.

He notes there have been approximately 90 pedestrians struck by cars in the city of Cincinnati this year.

"Neighborhoods across the city people are calling for safer streets," he said. "On Liberty Street we’ve had multiple roll-over crashes indicating that the engineering of the road promotes excessive vehicle speeds that are unsafe and puts all of our residents and visitors at risk ... it is time for this administration to turn a shovel to support the safety of the people."