Transportation Routes are Different than a Walk in the Park

Cincinnati has an issue on the ballot in a couple of days to create a charter amendment to fund Parks with very little oversight and no input form the people who live there. We would all love to see more funding for parks and I am not going to get into the political, or even financial, shortcomings of this issue. I want to talk about the multi-use trails that are included in this proposal.

We talk about providing safe avenues for pedestrians and cyclists. Cincinnati has many families living on the outskirts of the city and in some of the surrounding suburbs who do not own a vehicle. These trails and walkways are not a “walk in the park” to them, they are a very necessary form of travel into the city center and back home. Whether by choice or life situation, these citizens need mobility.

The city should not be lumping bike and pedestrian routes into an issue for park funding. Any infrastructure that is to be installed to move people throughout the region should be considered a function of the Department of transportation. Since when did walking or riding a bike to work or school become recreational?

We have sped up our city streets so much in past years that the safety of students and adults alike is threatened. That is not a park board issue. Wasson Way and River Trail West are means of safe transportation for people, just like River Road, Westwood Ave., and Columbia Parkway. Stop treating people who prefer not to, or cannot afford to be a part of our car-centric society as if they don’t count. We vote, too.

I will let someone else discuss the ridiculousness of giving all the decision making power for such issues to the Mayor. 

#issue22 #rivertrailwest #wassonway #cincinnatibybike