CINCINNATI — A large portion of Harrison Avenue on the west side is getting a major safety upgrade with the installation of 11 sets of speed cushions.
The $7.6 million project aims to reduce speeding and prevent crashes in an area that saw over 500 collisions in a recent three-year period from 2019-2021, according to data provided from the Department of Transportation and Engineering, sourced from Ohio Department of Transportation crash reports:
- Five fatalities and 21 serious injuries along this corridor
- 19 pedestrian-involved crashes and three bicycle-involved crashes
- 155 sideswipe-passing collisions
- 154 total rear-end crashes occurred at various private driveways along Harrison Avenue
- 187 total angle, left turn and right turn crashes, a majority focused near intersections
- Fixed object crashes occur throughout the corridor, with the majority occurring to the east of Baker Avenu,e where speeds are slightly higher, and the road has more curves. (82 crashes total with 50 crashes occurring from Baker Avenue to Queen City Avenue and 19 of those in the vicinity of Tremont Road.)
Watch our conversation with residents who say safety improvements are much needed:
The safety improvements will span four miles along Harrison Avenue, starting at Queen City Avenue and extending past the Westwood neighborhood business district.
- New lane striping that will “rightsize” the street.
- Eleven sets of speed cushions to calm traffic
- New crosswalks at Powell Drive and at Bracken Woods Lane (Additionally, all existing marked crosswalks will be repainted.)
- Hardened center lines at eight intersections
- Curb extensions at eight intersections
- One-way protected bike lanes from Queen City Avenue to Fairmount Avenue
- High Friction Surface Treatment (HFST) at four locations
- Two new retaining walls east of Everglade Place
- Parking edge lines in the Westwood neighborhood business district
Read more about the project and click this link for an interactive map shown below:
"If they put a speed bump on the one side, they're gonna be perfect," said Losseny Cisse, who works on Harrison Avenue.
Cisse, who repairs cars for a living, worries about the vehicles that speed down the road as he and his coworkers move vehicles on and off the lot.
John Wira, who also works on Harrison Avenue, pointed out five different spots where crashes have occurred near his workplace.
"In the morning, if you clock them, they're doing 60 miles an hour down the hill," Wira said.
Wira said he believes the project's new designated parking lanes should prevent merging issues.
"For whatever reason, this bend seems to magnetize people hitting parked cars," he said.
The area has several memorials to crash victims. In 2023, a crash prompted renewed calls for speed controls. City council approved the project from a federal government grant nearly two years ago. Since then, the project has been in design and feedback phases.
Armoate Reliford, a pedestrian who witnessed a crash in front of the Shell station just a day ago, said he supports speed cushions in the area after seeing their effectiveness on Glenway Avenue.
"I see the difference," Reliford said.
The project is scheduled to be completed by May 2026. DOTE said drivers should expect intermittent lane closures.
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