John Faherty

jfaherty@enquirer.com

A day of minor disappointment for Cincinnati's biking community turned sharply Wednesday into what could be a major development for riders and people who believe in alternative transportation.

First, members of the City Council made clear the fact that they were not going to allow the Central Parkway Bikeway Project to proceed as planned. That plan will be modified or it will die. This was not good news to some riders, but a bike advocacy group told the council it would support a proposed change that accommodates business concerns.

This was a big deal.

The city money would give $1.1 million to Cincy Bike Share and $200,000 to four bike trails along Wasson Way, the Oasis Corridor, Mill Creek and the Ohio River Trail West. This was good news for the biking community.

The money, the mayor said in a statement, will make the city a better place to live. "This investment in bike trails and cycling will go a long way to do just that," Cranley said. "We're working every day to make Cincinnati the best city in America to live, work and raise a family."

Cincy Bike Share will begin perhaps as soon as this summer, with 20 bike stations on corners across Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

The stations will hold 200 bikes to be shared and used as part of the city's transportation system. These are not designed to be bikes for river rides or trail running. These are practical ways to get people from point A to point B.

They are designed to get a rider from an office Downtown to a dinner in Over-the Rhine or to a Reds game. They are like taxis that people will pay for as members or on a per-use basis.

Jason Barron, executive director of Cincy Bike Share, said this support from the mayor, and the money that could come from it, is difficult to overstate.

"If you look at all the successful bike share program across the country, the most successful ones have a champion," Barron said. "You cannot have a better champion than Mayor Cranley."

The money for the bike trails will also help, although it will not go a long way. "Bike trails usually cost about $100,000 per mile," said Jason Reser, owner of Reser Bicycle in Newport. "It could be the start of something."

The changes to the Central Parkway bike project are relatively minor shifts to preserve parking. If built, the protected bike lane of the Central Parkway bike project will connect the neighborhoods of Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, West End, Clifton and Northside.

The changes would bring the path up off Central Parkway for about a block near Brighton Place on the inbound side. It will then run on what is now green space next to the sidewalk and then back onto the street.

The executive director of Queen City Bike, a riders' advocacy group, read the political tea leaves and voiced her support for the changes. If nothing else, the political process has made Nern Ostendorf a realist.

Ostendorf counted votes, talked with politicians and decided changes to the plan were better than no bike path at all. "This project should move forward," Ostendorf said. "The cost of human life and safety is too valuable to be playing games. We needed to take advantage of these opportunities."

Four of the sitting City Council members – Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson, Wendell Young and P.G. Sittenfeld – have supported leaving the bike path as it was approved by the council last year.

Five council members – David Mann, Kevin Flynn, Amy Murray, Christopher Smitherman and Charlie Winburn – said the plan must change. Some have said they could be against the plan even if it is modified.

The modified plan was introduced by Vice Mayor Mann. Now it will go back to the Major Transportation and Regional Cooperation Committee. It will be joined with the Cranley ordinance.

Both could come out and be back before the full council April 30.