Contractors looking to improve pedestrian areas at The Banks

CINCINNATI - The Banks developers are moving one step closer to making the popular downtown area more pedestrian friendly.

Contractors will be touring pedestrian areas at the The Banks Thursday morning. The contractors were pre-selected by The Banks Public Partnership to offer sealed bids on the $5.4 million pedestrian enhancement project.

The areas included in the project are the Roebling Bridge pedestrian connector, the river walk along Mehring Way, the pedestrian bridge at Broadway and East Pete Rose Way, and an intermodal transportation staging area.

On Oct. 1, The Banks developers invited contractors that were already pre-qualified by the Ohio Department of Transportation to bid on the project.

Contractors touring The Banks will submit their bids at the Hamilton County Administration Building on Nov. 1.

The Banks Public Partnership, a working partnership between the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and The Banks developers, will select the winning bid.

Earlier this month, The Banks developers announced they will break ground on Phase 2 of the development early next year.

Plans for Phase 2 include an additional 300 apartment units, more than 60,000 square feet of street-level retail and more than 400 parking spaces at the block southeast of Race and Second streets.