Make it a Habit: Neighbors Come Together for Climate, Environment, and Infrastructure
This is a guest contribution from coalition member Rox. Join the movement and volunteer to contribute to our blog here.
Coalition members Mackenzie Mason, Bob Hyland, and Dr. Amy Townsend-Small give public comment on the environmental justice implications of the Brent Spence Corridor expansion project.
Watch: 9/23/25 CEI Meeting
On Tuesday, September 23, neighbors came together at the Cincinnati City Council's Climate, Environment, and Infrastructure committee where we heard from our community about the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) Brent Spence Corridor Expansion plans. We had four in-person speakers: Amy, Bob, Mack, and Mimi.
Bob raised concerns shared by many around the project area. Respiratory conditions are becoming more likely (and more severe) in their families. By refusing to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which would require them to consider reasonable alternatives to a second bridge and double the lanes, ODOT is locking in harmful human environmental conditions for generations to come.
Mack added to the conversation that the City should pressure ODOT to conduct the EIS, due to the historical mistakes upheld by the project. She expressed that ODOT sidestepped this required stage because they prefer the facade that our communities are the same as they were when the project conversation started twenty years ago. She argued that displaced neighbors have felt these negative impacts, yet ODOT does not care about those families split up across the city.
Amy expressed frustration with much of the discussion about this project downplaying the impact of a second bridge that would be here to stay. Doubling the total lanes across these two bridges from four to eight increases the largest source of pollutants in an area already receiving an F grade for air quality and will intensify this harm to our communities. We should work to grow as a greener and more sustainable city, Amy concluded, not continue developing our transportation systems around a bygone past.
Mimi saw the highway expand around her community in Camp Washington. She feels the danger of the worsening air quality firsthand. Neighbors cut off, opportunities lost, and friends so fed up from the highway they had to move. She asked for institutions that work for all of us, not just some of us. She demanded solutions along the corridor that aren't going to continue making her life worse.
Anyone who lives here knows Brent Spence is a nightmare, but slapping down a second bridge will not fix the absurd traffic and its associated danger. We need to consider what's best for the region and communities living along this critical economic corridor. We need a solution that works for us, not against us living good lives. We need viable alternatives that ODOT resolutely refuses to study.
We will be attending the CEI meeting again every other Tuesday. You can let us know if you are going to attend here. We demand our leaders put People Over Pavement.
