It all started with a public records request − as some of The Enquirer’s best work typically does. We wanted to know: What could repurposing Cincinnati’s abandoned subway tunnels look like in the 21st century?
The city’s official call for ideas last fall resulted in 18 submissions that we obtained from the city manager’s office. As a reporter who’s studied architecture, I’d already concluded that some of the top design firms in the city would submit impressive and thorough concepts. (This is the kind of fun project architects love to tackle, even if they don’t get paid for it.) My colleagues were quite surprised by how detailed the proposals were, but I was not.
What did strike me, though, was the little attention paid to reviving the tunnels with transit. Our readers also wanted to know why transit wasn’t given more thought, based on an unscientific January poll. Did everyone think it was impossible? That’s the theme of my latest story.
Let’s just say I received mixed messages in my attempt to answer that question.
I started by speaking with two smart young students who put together subway-specific proposals for the city. One, a Louisville, Ky. native like me, studies regional transit in their spare time and is incredibly well-versed in Cincinnati’s infrastructure issues. In fact, there was no discernable difference in the level of insight provided to me by this 18-year-old compared to the experts I talked to who’ve worked for our local transportation agencies.
Don’t be shocked if these students are the ones to finally usher in and complete a groundbreaking rapid transit plan for Cincinnati. Executing big dreams often relies on timing, after all. And local politics… something that’s stopped previous efforts to complete the subway.
Which brings me to the topic of light-rail. I didn’t expect this article to turn into a story about our past attempts to get light-rail in Cincinnati, and whether we’re ready to try again. In my reporting, I found some people think we’re becoming more receptive to ambitious ideas like this, while others do not, citing taxpayers’ concerns over major projects like the Brent Spence Bridge, building a new arena and renovating Paycor Stadium.
But one thing is certain: These aging tunnels are worth a lot of money. (A 2007 study by city engineers estimated the tunnel’s value to be upwards of $40 million − that’s $61.3 million in today’s dollars.) So it’s possible that they could be used as local leverage to get federal dollars for a region-wide transit system… one day.
Until then, maybe the question we should be asking is: “What do we do with the tunnels right now?”
