Voters reject Issue 48, allow funds for streetcar in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI - Voters have rejected Issue 48, going forward with the plan for a streetcar in Cincinnati.

"I cannot tell you how happy I am tonight," Mayor Mark Mallory told the Cincinnatians for Progress victory party at Arnold's Bar and Grill minutes after the votes were posted. "This is absolute validation that this city is a progressive city!"

Issue 48 was the latest battle in the political war over the Cincinnati streetcar.

Cincinnati had proposed and approved the funds to construct and maintain a streetcar, scheduled to run from Uptown and the UC area through downtown and The Banks, but voters signed enough petitions to get the issue on Nov. 8's ballot to decide whether the city of Cincinnati could spend any money on this project or not. Voters have decided not to prohibit funds for the streetcar.

Supporters of Issue 48 have said the streetcar plan, including its route, is the wrong plan and should be stopped.

"It's down to an amusement park ride," said Issue 48 supporter Tom Luken. "Who wants to pay $100 million for that?"

They have said passenger rail projects should be prohibited in the city Charter because they are too expensive, and will have to be subsidized.

On the other side, opponents of Issue 48 have said it will cost the city jobs, and development opportunities, stymieing its revenue base.

"Passenger rail is a powerful catalyst for economic development, new jobs, new homes, higher property values and a bigger tax base," said Issue 48 opponent Margaret McGurk. "Slamming the door on investments that pay back far more than they cost makes no sense for the city's future."

Opponents had said it would prohibit the city from planning or building any passenger rail transit projects for the next decade and beyond.

The route for the streetcar had to be shortened to not include the riverfront or Uptown areas when the state pulled its funding, but Mayor Mallory has said the city could secure funds in some other way in the future to extend the route back out to where it was originally planned.

The streetcar will run four miles from Fountain Square to Findlay Market.