Eastern Corridor: Terrible Idea

It baffles me that Todd Portune, whom I otherwise greatly respect, is so gung-ho about this Eastern Corridor project that would be a huge mistake for the region and could jeopardize future transit projects.

We here at Connect Our Dots are usually in the game of promoting public transportation. The Eastern Corridor is a different story. It’s just stupid.

The first problem is that the route simply doesn’t make sense. Sure, it’s an existing, formerly used rail line, but it would start at the riverfront transit center (far from most of downtown) run right along the Ohio River (not very close to many neighborhoods), then turn north at Lunken Airport (not many people there) and then stop in a few seemingly random places in Anderson Township sort of near Mariemont, Newtown, Indian Hill and at the outskirts of Milford, all the while flirting with the Little Miami River.

I hate to stereotype, I really do, but are the people from those neighborhoods really the type of people you would expect to take a train to work? I really wish they were, but let’s face it. They’re not early adopters. If those neighborhood really wanted some efficient transit service, it would be incredibly easy to implement a bus rapid transit line (BRT) on Columbia Parkway and US-50.

The issue here is that transit funding is hard to come by, especially when citizens don’t want it. If we want the Cincinnati region to get on the transit bandwagon (or railcar, more appropriately) we need to show a big transit success story. Because the Eastern Corridor line runs through so few neighborhoods and would have such low ridership, it would be hard to market as an astounding success. In fact, at such a high cost ($411 million plus $19m per year) it would be an easy target for transit critics of why we shouldn’t do more transit projects.

Another big issue is that Little Miami River. If you haven’t spent a lazy summer afternoon paddling a canoe down that river, you haven’t lived. I had the chance to go with my nephew’s boy scout troop once and it was absolutely divine. The Little Miami is the first designated, the longest, and only urban State Scenic River in Ohio. It was also the first in Ohio designated as a National Scenic River. The Eastern Corridor plan bridges over the river at least once and then runs right next to it for at least a mile. All that construction would surely kill the Little Miami’s scenic distinction and destroy much of the rich biodiversity in the area.

Finally, what the proponents of this project often don’t talk about (ie. they don’t want us to think about) is that the major purpose for the entire thing is a 6-lane highway to West Virginia and on to North Carolina. The plan is to explode OH-32 into an eastern extension of I-74.

The Eastern Corridor website claims that improving air quality is an important factor in federal projects. Indeed, the federal government is required to consider the environmental impact of any infrastructure project they take on. (And we all know much the federal government has cared about the environment recently.) Proponents claim that the Eastern Corridor is a component of implementing the requirements of the Clean Air Act and the Transportation Efficiency Act of the 21st Century. TEA-21 encourages multi-modal transportation projects with the expectation that that will give people the option of not using the highway.

Granted, building a bike trail and commuter rail along with a highway may have a marginally better environmental impact than your typical 6-lane highway, but how good is the natural environment going to look when this project spurs acre upon acre of exurban sprawl in Clermont and Brown counties?

So, in exhausted conclusion, the Eastern Corridor is a terrible idea. Tell Todd Portune you think so.