Council OKs Uptown streetcar study

In a 5-4 vote that came after a lengthy argument, Cincinnati City Council on Wednesday asked the city's administration to study expanding the streetcar to Uptown.

The study will look at where future funding could come from and is not expected to cost taxpayers additional money, beyond city staff time.

Mayor John Cranley, who does not have a vote, called council members who want to focus on the next phase of the streetcar irresponsible.

"Shouldn't the focus be on making the first phase a success?" Cranley said.

Council had been relatively quiet about the streetcar for a few months until early March, when Councilman Chris Seelbach called for the Uptown study. Ever since, the streetcar has been the source of hours of bickering at City Hall, and the latest debate came one day after council learned revenue estimates would fall short of what is needed by nearly $600,000 a year.

"Let's make Phase I a success," Cranley said. "Instead, people want to write more checks and spend more money on Phase II."

Cranley suggested that shortfall could be covered with parking revenue from Over-the-Rhine, a neighborhood whose residents would benefit from the $148 million streetcar project. The city has been working on a residential parking plan for the neighborhood, but no decisions have been made.

The city already plans to use $1.5 million in parking revenue to help cover annual streetcar operating costs, which are estimated at between $3.8 million and $4.2 million.

The streetcar originally was supposed to go to Uptown near the University of Cincinnati campus. The rail line would have connected the region's two largest jobs hubs, but the Uptown plan was scrapped after Gov. John Kasich in 2011 pulled all $52 million in state money for the project. City officials still were able to move forward with building the 3.6-mile route through parts of Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

Seelbach doesn't want to give up on the original plan to expand the streetcar to Uptown. Since it can take years for federal money to be awarded, Seelbach wants the administration to draft a report that shows every possible way to pay for the Uptown expansion. He has made it clear he is not asking for an outside consultant to be hired to perform a major feasibility study, which can cost hundreds of thousands.

The biggest hurdle to getting the streetcar to Uptown is relocating utilities underneath Vine Street. The Enquirer reported last month that it would cost $38 million to move gas and electric lines – more than double the cost of utility relocation for the current phase. In 2009, consultants completed a feasibility study on the Uptown route, and streetcar project leaders spent another $201,000 on two Uptown studies last year.

Councilwoman Yvette Simpson defended the latest study.

"It was conceived as an economic development project, there are real benefits to that," Simpson said. "That's happening. Yet every time a (development) project comes, we don't even acknowledge when the owner says, 'I located here because of the streetcar,' because it's a political hot potato."

Vice Mayor David Mann weighed in, too.

"I think some of us will not be happy unless the streetcar fails, and therefore at opportune moments, they will do all they can to make people think it is failing or the wheels are falling off," Mann said.

That is not the case, Cranley said. "Just because we point out the facts doesn't mean we want it to fail."

Reporter Jason Williams contributed.