City Councilmember and Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee Chair Roxanne Qualls has submitted the City's updated priority list for the OKI 2030 plan, and it's currently in Council's Economic Development Committee.

The Ohio-Indiana-Kentucky Regional Council of Governments (OKI) adopted the OKI 2030 Regional Transportation plan in 2004 as a comprehensive, long-range planning document outlining how more than $7 billion will be spent to address the existing and future transportation needs of the region.

The plan is updated every four years, with each jurisdiction assigning a priority ranking to projects located within their corporate limits.

Plan recommendations are scheduled for public review in April, with possible adoption by OKI in June. The plan update will then be submitted to the federal highway and transit administrations for their approval.

These numbers will be subject to some debate in the coming months as communities seek to optimize the amount of transportation funds they receive.

Recently, Cincinnati City Council passed a resolution asking OKI to include updated population and employment numbers in its updated plan.

The OKI 2030 allocation model uses population figures as one of the main factors in deciding which jurisdiction receives funds.

OKI's 2004 formula projects that Cincinnati will lose 50,000 residents by 2030.

In 2006, the City successfully challenged a 2005 U.S. Census Bureau estimate that had undercounted the City's population by 22,582.



The numbers

Priority rankings are assigned on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.

Several projects listed here are part of larger efforts, such as the Eastern Corridor project, --> --> --> and the --> --> -->I-75 Mill Creek Expressway --> --> --> project.

Projects without priority rankings have been omitted.

Priority 10
* I-75 ($481M), Ohio River to Hamilton-Butler line, four to five continuous lanes in each direction
* Red Bank Rd ($200M), US-50 to I-71, grade separation and frontage roads
* Western Hills Viaduct ($120M), replace
* I-71 ($80M), Reading to Dana/Duck Creek, add one lane in each direction, improve access
* Mitchell Ave ($22M), Spring Grove to Vine, add two lanes
* Ohio River Trail ($20M), Lunken to Downtown, bike/hike trail
* I-75 ($18.1M), OH-562 interchange improvement
* Colerain Ave ($15M), Virginia to Spring Grove, add one lane and geometric improvements
* I-75 ($12.6M), Towne St interchange improvement
* Dana Ave ($10M), Victory to I-71, add one lane
* Delhi Pike ($10M), Fairbanks to Greenwell, widen to four lanes
* I-75 ($10M), OH-4 interchange improvement
* Ancor Connector ($9M), OH-32 to Broadwell, two lanes
* Montana Ave ($9M), Farrell to Boudinot, add one lane and widen, intersection improvements
* Ridge Rd ($9M), I-71 to Madison, add one lane
* W McMillan St ($7M), reconstruct by widening and preparing for possible future interstate access
* Blue Rock St ($5M), Colerain to Spring Grove, add one lane
* Freeman Ave ($5M), replacement of bridge over Sixth Street
* Northside ($5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Walnut Hills ($5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Westwood ($5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Reading Rd ($4M), Clinton Springs to Paddock, add one lane and intersection improvements
* Ridge Rd ($4M), I-71 to Highland, add two lanes
* US-27 ($4M), I-74 to Washburn, interchange improvements
* Cincinnati Zoo ($2M), small SORTA transit hub connected to pedestrian bridge
* Reading Rd ($1.9M), Elsinore to Forest, provide five lanes and intersection improvements
* Evanston/Xavier ($0.3M), small SORTA transit hub
* Lower Price Hill ($0.3M), small SORTA transit hub
* Glenway Ave (?), Cleves Warsaw to Parkcrest, intersection improvements and turn lanes

Priority 8
* Oasis Line ($411M), rail transit as part of Eastern Corridor plan
* I-71 ($20M), I-471 to Reading, eliminate left entrances/exits

Priority 6
* Over-the-Rhine/Uptown ($82M), streetcar Phase IB
* I-275 ($65M), US-52 to Five Mile, add two lanes
* Delta/Eastern/Kellogg ($25M), bridge replacement and intersection improvements
* Reading Rd ($15M), Victory to Langdon Farm, add one lane
* Martin Luther King Drive ($12M), Central Pw to Reading, widen to five lanes from Central to Clifton and to eight lanes from Clifton to Reading
* Clifton Ave ($10M), McMillan to Spring Grove, improved traffic operations and intersections
* Duck Creek Rd ($10M), Kennedy to Red Bank, add two lanes in each direction
* Harvey Ave ($10M), MLK to Forest, add one lane
* Uptown ($6.93), two SORTA transit hubs
* Hamilton Ave ($6M), Glen Parker to Ashtree, geometric improvements and walls
* Wilmer Ave ($6M), add one lane and geometric improvements
* Little Miami Trail ($6M), Lunken to Old Beechmont, bike/hike trail
* Eden Ave ($5M), William Howard Taft to MLK, extend Eden to McMillan and improve traffic operations
* Vine St ($4.9M), McMicken to Erkenbrecker, extend Short Vine to Taft and McMillan, improve intersections, widen lanes, restrict parking and add bike/pedestrian facilities
* Highland Ave ($3M), MLK to McMillan, improve traffic operations and intersections, add turn lanes, restrict parking
* Ohio River Trail ($2M), Lunken to Salem, bike/hike trail
* Uptown ($1.25M), wayfinding signage
* Oakley ($0.8M), small SORTA transit hub
* Avondale ($0.5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Bond Hill ($0.5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Uptown ($0.4M), signal coordination at 69 locations
* Commuter rail from Cincinnati to Lawrenceburg (?)

Priority 4.5
* Wasson Line ($309M), rail transit as part of Eastern Corridor plan
* I-74 Corridor ($205M), rail transit
* River Rd ($17.5M), Addyston village line to Fairbanks, add one lane in each direction with center turn lane
* Riverside Dr ($15M), add two lanes and geometric improvements at railroad overpass
* OH-32 ($15M), improvements to OH-125/Wilmer/Wooster interchange
* Ridge Rd ($7M), Highland to Woodford, add one lane
* Werk Rd (?), Westbourne to Glenway, improve intersections with turn lanes

Priority 3
* OH-562 ($212), I-75 to I-71, add two lanes
* Union Terminal/Broadway Commons ($60M), streetcar Phase II
* Ohio River Trail ($20M), State to Central Ave, bike/hike trail over Mill Creek
* Colerain Ave ($11.9M), Kirby to Springdale, widen to six lanes with access and signal improvements
* Boudinot Ave ($5M), Glenway to Harrison, improve intersections
* Burnet Ave ($5M), Reading to Forest, street widening, turn lanes and parking restrictions
* Auburn Ave ($0.7M), Dorchester to William Howard Taft, improve traffic operations, remove some parking and improve intersections
* Madisonville ($0.5M), small SORTA transit hub
* Ohio River Crossing Study (?), investigate a new river crossing in western Hamilton County