Cincinnati ― Agreement to Start Construction

September 2012

Legislation has been proposed that would allow construction to begin while the dispute over who pays for utility relocation remains unsolved. According to urbancincy.com, a legislation package that would begin utiity relocation while negotations continue is to be presented to the legislature in late September.

The legistlation sets aside $15 million which the city can draw on to begin utility relocation, while the dispute is resolved. The $15 million figure represents Duke Energy's estimate of the relocation costs. The city and Duke agreed on the 3 foot clearance separating track and utility lines―a distance used in other cities. City officials are optimistic that an agreement over cost sharing can be reached with Duke, but now construction can begin.

The dispute has caused the planned opening date of the line to slip into summer 2015.