Cincinnati Subway

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Downtown Cincinnati Subway entrance
Downtown Cincinnati Subway entrance

The Cincinnati Subway is a set of unused tunnels and stations for a subway system beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Contents

[edit] History

From 1825 until 1920 a canal divided Cincinnati's residential neighbor of Over-the-Rhine with the business district of downtown.[1][2] The canal was used to transport goods and people into the city until the popularity of railroads caused it to go into disuse.[1] It was officially abandoned by the city in 1877.[3] On September 27, 1884 a weekly Cincinnati magazine called The Graphic suggested that the "dead old ditch" be used to provide an unobstructed route for a rapid transit system, with a large boulevard above.[1]

In 1916 six million dollars in bonds were issued to build the loop, but construction was halted because no capital issues of bonds were permitted during World War I, which the United States entered in 1917.[2] With the war concluded in 1919 the cost of construction had doubled, increasing the price to complete the loop to $12,000,000 or $13,000,000.[2] Regardless, the city began work in January of 1920 with the idea of reallocating funds needed to complete the loop at a later date. The $6,000,000 in bonds ran out in 1927 and construction ended with seven miles of subway dug or graded, but no track had been laid. In 1928, a new boulevard called "Central Parkway" was laid on top of the subway and was followed by a week of celebration by Cincinnatians.

In the following decades the subway was never completed because of the explosive popularity and convenience of the automobile, something few citizen's owned in 1916.

In the 1950s a 52-inch water pipe was laid in one of the tunnels beneath Central Parkway to save construction costs.[4]

[edit] Design

There are three semi-completed stations located at Central Parkway and Race streets, at Central Parkway and Liberty street, and at Central Parkway and Brighton corner. There is a provision for a forth station at Mohawk corner, where the wall has been set back. At Walnut street the lines begin to curve south to go into downtown, but they are stopped short by a bricked up wall. The subway tube is double tracked throughout its entire length, with a concrete wall separating the two tracks. Openings in the wall enable persons to step from one track to another. The tunnels are well ventilated and provide much light until Liberty street is reached.[5]

One tunnel is meant to run north, the other south. Each of the two halves of the tube has a minimum width of 13 feet and a height of 15 feet, 6 inches. This should be ample room to accommodate any type of street car, trolley coach, or bus. Each tunnel has parallel wooden stringers which are bolted to the floor, and are intended to support steel rails that were never laid. They are 59 inches from center to center, which is six inches wider than most railway lines. All curves in the tunnel are gradual, and on those curves the outside stringer was raised higher than the inner stringer to accommodate trains traveling at speeds of more than forty miles per hour.[5]

[edit] Possible use

The uncompleted subway tunnels and three built stations remain beneath Central Parkway, ready to be used if ever the citizens of Cincinnati desire. In 2002 a proposed tax levy to fund a $2.6 billion regional light rail system failed by nearly a 2-1 vote. The tax would've raised the sales tax in Hamilton county by a half cent.

As of 2008 it would cost $2.6 million to maintain the tunnels as they currently are, $19 million to fill the tunnels with dirt, and $100.5 million to revive the tunnels for modern subway use. Relocating the 52-inch pipe would cost $14 million.[6]

[edit] Tours

As of April 2008, the only group authorized to provide tours of the Subway is the Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs due to their excellent safety record. The "talk and walk" tour lasts approximately two hours. It begins with an a discussion about the history of the subway and continues with a five-block walk underground. Tours are very limited and book quickly. On April 12, 2008, 5 groups of 50 people each toured the Subway. Only one tour day is planned for 2008.

[edit] Similar subways

Cincinnati's design was very similar to Boston's Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel (Red Line). A similar construction can also be found at the Newark City Subway using the former bed of the Morris Canal, or the similarly abandoned Rochester Subway, which used the bed of the Erie Canal.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Singer, Allen J. (2003), Images of America: The Cincinnati Subway, History of Rapid Transit, Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, pp. 17-18, ISBN 0738523143 
  2. ^ a b c Body in Charge of Transit System (April 3, 1926), “Progress of Work Reviewed”, Cincinnati Enquirer: 14-15 
  3. ^ Radel, Cliff. "Life under the city: Subway legend has never left the station", Cincinnati Enquirer, May 24, 2003, pp. 12–27. Retrieved on 2008-06-08. 
  4. ^ "Cincinnati's Subway" (video), YouTube, February 4, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 
  5. ^ a b Stimson, George P. (April 24, 1936), “Unused Subway System is in Almost Perfect Condition”, Cincinnati Times Star: 2 
  6. ^ "Cincinnati Considers Options For Decades-Old Unfinished Subway". Retrieved on 2008-05-12. 

[edit] External links

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