CINCINNATI — The City of Cincinnati will host a forum Wednesday night to give residents a chance to sound off about traffic issues and pedestrian safety following several recent incidents of people being hit by drivers.
What You Need To Know
- The City of Cincinnati will hold a forum focused on traffic and pedestrian safety Wednesday night at City Hall
- The event is a response to a high number of serious and fatal crashes
- City officials will speak and provide updates, but residents will have a chance to ask questions and provide feedback as well
- The event starts at 6 p.m.
The event at City Hall is an opportunity to “engage in a facilitated, problem-solving discussion about traffic and pedestrian safety,” according to the city manager’s office.
Elected officials and leaders of city departments will offer remarks or short presentations, and residents will have a chance to ask questions or offer feedback.
A dashboard featuring data about severe and fatal traffic crashes in Cincinnati. (Image courtesy of City of Cincinnati)
City departments represented will include Transportation and Engineering and Cincinnati Police, and someone from the Ohio Department of Transportation will attend as well.
The event will start at 6 p.m. inside City Council’s chambers. There is no listed end time on the media or public announcements.
Below is a list of officials scheduled to take part.
Since taking office in January, Mayor Aftab Pureval and Cincinnati City Council have dedicated millions to pedestrian safety initiatives ranging from adding more speed cushions in areas known for high crash numbers to beautification projects aimed at slowing down drivers.
Still, incidents of severe crashes continue to be an issue.
As of June 5, there’ve been 336 fatal or severe crashes in Cincinnati since the start of the year. Of that total, 72 of them have involved pedestrians or people on bicycles or other devices such as electric scooters.
At least two pedestrians have been killed by drivers since May 27, per CPD. And on June 5, the driver of an SUV collided with a motorcycle while attempting to turn left onto Prosperity Place from Glenway Avenue. The man on the motorcycle suffered fatal injuries. He was not wearing a helmet.
This past weekend, a person suffered life-threatening injuries after getting hit by a car while riding an electric scooter near Findlay Market in Over-The-Rhine.
There’ve been at least three fatal car crashes within city limits since May 27.
The city has proposed $4 million in additional funding for pedestrian safety improvements, especially in areas like school zones where there are a lot of children, like schools.
Officials planning to take part
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Iris Roley, consultant to the City of Cincinnati on Collaborative Agreement Sustainability
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Vice Mayor Jan Michelle Lemon-Kearney
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Council member Scotty Johnson, Chair of the Public Safety and Governance Committee
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Council member Mark Jeffreys, a cyclist and pedestrian safety advocate
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Assistant City Manager Sheryl Long
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John Brazina, director of DOTE
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Tammy Campbell, ODOT
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Interim Police Chief Teresa Theetge
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Lt. Colonel Michael John
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Dr. Ebony Ruhland, University of Cincinnati
