Economic Development

Cincinnati gets $25M for streetcar line

Cincinnati.com • By Barry M. Horstman
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown today announced $24,990,000 to the city of Cincinnati for the creation of a streetcar line.

The funding is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Urban Circulator Grant Program.

“By better linking Cincinnati’s neighborhoods we can create jobs and fuel further investment to help set southwest Ohio on a path towards long-term economic growth,” Brown said. “Increasing transportation options is good for business and good for our cities. This investment in transit infrastructure will create more transportation options for people who work downtown and encourage people across our state to visit all that Cincinnati has to offer.”

The funding will provide for the construction of a six-mile streetcar route with 18 stops and six streetcars for operation on one-way pairs of downtown Cincinnati streets.

The Cincinnati Streetcar Project will reconnect the central business district to two redeveloping neighborhoods just north of downtown:
Over-the-Rhine and Uptown, the region’s second largest employment center.

Cincinnati, which still needs about $42 million in additional state or federal dollars to fund the streetcar plan’s $128 million first phase, applied for the $25 million “urban circulator” grant.

To date, the city has identified about $86 million for the project, including $64 million in city bonds that Mayor Mark Mallory has pledged will not be issued unless the city receives roughly the same amount in state and federal funds. In addition to today’s grant, Cincinnati also plans to apply for a handful of other grants available from Columbus and Washington later this year.

Even if the full $128 million budget is not in place, city officials have said preliminary construction could begin this fall with relocation of utilities to clear the way for track installation for a streetcar system that will extend from Downtown’s riverfront to the Uptown communities around the University of Cincinnati.

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