Mayor Mallory announces agreement with Duke Energy on Cincinnati Streetcar project

CINCINNATI - The city of Cincinnati and Duke Energy have agreed to move forward with the production of the streetcar while a court determines the responsibility of the relocation costs for Duke to move its utilities for the project.

The agreement was announced Friday by Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr.

The city of Cincinnati and Duke Energy have also agreed to an operations plan for how Duke and the city will work in partnership once the streetcar is operating.

“From the beginning, I said that we would come to agreement with Duke, and we have,” Mayor Mallory said at a press conference Friday.  “Duke Energy is one of the City of Cincinnati’s strongest corporate partners, and they will be strong partners as we build the Streetcar and continue to grow our city.”

The city and Duke have signed two agreements. The first is an operations agreement that provides for how Duke will collaborate with the Streetcar’s construction and how it will safely access its utilities in City streets once the streetcar is operational.

Duke has agreed to relocate only those utilities in direct conflict with the streetcar slab or where access is located three feet or less from the edge of the track slab.

The second agreement is a cooperation agreement between the city and Duke, which lays out how the two parties will resolve the question of who is responsible for the costs of relocating Duke’s utilities in City streets for the streetcar project.

Duke and the city have agreed to seek a declaratory judgment in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.  Duke and the city agreed to abide by the court ruling, after they have exhausted any appeals.

“The utilities’ agreements are in place, the cars are being ordered, and the construction bids are coming in,” said City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. at the press conference Friday. “The Streetcar is happening.”