EASTERN HILLS
JOURNAL
Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Township, Columbia-Tusculum, Fairfax, Hyde Park, Madisonville, Mariemont, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, Terrace Park
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2012
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BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Road plan may reduce traffic Mt. Lookout could see fewer vehicles By Lisa Wakeland lwakeland@communitypress.com
Mt. Lookout residents could get some relief from heavy traffic in the neighborhood as portions of the proposed Eastern Corridor road plan are constructed. The proposed multimodal transportation project aims to improve connections between downtown Cincinnati and western Clermont County. It includes interchange upgrades, relocating state Route 32, improving the Red Bank Road corridor and a commuter rail line. Andy Fluegemann, a planning engineer for the Ohio Department of Transportation Dis-
trict 8, said they're finishing several components of the study's second tier, but do not have funding for later pieces of the project, including design and construction. Some residents at the recent Mt. Lookout Community Council meeting expressed concern about the high volume of traffic traveling through Mt. Lookout square, particularly along Linwood Avenue, also known as state route 561. Fluegemann said traffic modeling has showed there would be a decrease in the number of vehicles along Linwood Avenue as segments of the Eastern Corridor project is completed. "(Vehicles are) coming through to get to Red Bank Road See ROAD, Page A2
The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council is concerned a gate may be installed at the Cock and Bull English Pub impacting pedestrian traffic. A representative for the pub said ideas are being considered for ways to identify the outdoor eating area, but nothing has been finalized or approved. FORREST SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
A potential gate concerns council Pub officials say nothing final yet By Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
HYDE PARK — The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council has expressed its opposition to a possible gate around the Cock and Bull English Pub. It would impact the adjacent businesses and also affect the character of the square, said council board member Carl Uebelacker. Chris Penn, a managing partner of the Cock and Bull, said nothing has been finalized and different options are being considered. Penn said the pub wants to set up some type of demarcation to identify the boundaries where
FINAL TOUCH Now that construction is complete in Mt. Lookout square the community is working on final touches. Full story, A2
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patrons can eat or drink outdoors. He said this could range from a wrought iron fence to flower boxes placed at certain points. Uebelacker “We haven’t made a commitment to anything,” he said. “We are not building barricades. (This) will not prevent pedestrians from walking through.” Uebelacker said restrictions were set about 20 years ago, when Darci’s was a tenant at that location, which is at the corner of Erie Avenue and Edwards Road. “One of the restrictions on their conditional use of an outdoor eating and drinking area was to maintain public access to the sidewalk that abuts the front of those buildings,” said Uebe-
This is a map of the study areas for the Eastern Corridor project but does not represent final alignments. The red line is for the Red Bank Road corridor, the green line shows the state Route 32 relocation corridor, the blue line shows state Route 32 improvements near the Eastgate interchange and the orange line represents the Oasis rail transit line. PROVIDED
lacker. Uebelacker said any type of structure would violate this condition. “(This) has not been a problem for several decades,” he said. Penn said he was unaware of any such restriction. However, he said a gate would not necessarily block or obstruct pedestrian traffic. Amit Ghosh, chief building official for Cincinnati, said Cock and Bull does have a permit for outdoor seating. However, he said if the business wants to place something on the sidewalk it would need a street permit allowing for this. Ghosh said at this point nothing had been filed. The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council is expected to continue discussions on the issue at future meetings.
TAKING THE LEAD Madisonville residents are developing their own plan for the future. Full story, A3
Columbia Twp. questions recycling refund amounts Officials: Residents are recycling more By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
COLUMBIA TWP. — Officials in Columbia Township are pleased with resident efforts to recycle, but are questioning if they're getting all they should. The township received $3,561 for its recycling efforts in 2011. The money comes from the county and is based on the amount of recycling the commu-
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News ..........................248-8600 Retail advertising ..............768-8196 Classified advertising .........242-4000 Delivery ........................576-8240 See page A2 for additional information
nity does in a given year. Township Administrator Michael Lemon said despite the township receiving similar amounts in recent years, he feels Columbia Township likely recycles even more than it's receiving credit for. "I think our people are doing better ... there's just no way of knowing for sure," he said. Lemon noted the way the materials are collected leads to some uncertainty in the actual recycling figure. He said since See REFUND, Page A2
Vol. 32 No. 14 © 2012 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED