Main Street Bus Lane Goes into Effect Nov. 5 Between Fifth and Central Parkway

New Bus Lane Is the First of Its Kind in the City of CincinnatiCINCINNATI – The City of Cincinnati’s newly designated rush-hour bus lane along the east curb lane of Main Street between Fifth and Central Parkway will go into effect beginning Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. The new designation means non-bus traffic will be prohibited from traveling continuously in the far-right lane during peak travel times from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.Main Street bump-out removal photo The bus lane is expected to improve traffic flow in this heavily congested stretch of the Central Business District.Cars, trucks and other vehicles will continue to be allowed to turn right at Seventh Street and into and out of parking lots from the bus lane. To help guide motorists, new signage and pavement markings are being installed along Main Street. Crews have removed a pedestrian bump-out at the northeast corner of Main at Seventh Street to accommodate the change. Crews are scheduled to repave the area and apply striping this Saturday, Oct. 27. Until the bump-out was removed, those buses heading to Central Parkway had to merge in and out of vehicular traffic to pick up passengers, causing slowdowns and congestion during peak travel times.New signage will be installed late next week.Main Street runs one-way north from The Banks, through Downtown into Over-the-Rhine. Please see the attached map, which shows the location of the bus lane. Approximately 635 Metro buses travel on Main Street between Fifth and Central each week day. Of those, 90 buses use the far-right lane to pick up passengers at stops along Main during afternoon rush hour from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Most of those buses travel to Central Parkway. A few buses turn right or left at various Intersections.The change is being made in conjunction with Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), the public agency that runs the local Metro bus system. This bus lane is the first of its kind in the City of Cincinnati. Current parking conditions will not change. Visitors will continue to be allowed to park at meters between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Parking restrictions between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. will remain in effect. The addition of the bus lane will not adversely affect service for the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar, which travels on the opposite side of Main Street. Information Updates For the latest information about construction affecting Downtown streets and sidewalks, check RoadmapCincy: @RoadmapCincy www.facebook.com/RoadmapCincywww.roadmapcincy.com

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