November 2025: Grassroots Organizing Delivers Real Transportation Wins Across Greater Cincinnati
November 2025 demonstrated what's possible when neighbors organize for safer, more equitable streets. From construction breaking ground on safety improvements to volunteers maintaining infrastructure with their own hands, Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky proved that community power delivers tangible change. Here's how.
Lower Price Hill: Years of Advocacy Become Reality
After advocacy that began in 2021, construction has started on a raised crosswalk on Storrs Avenue in Lower Price Hill, behind Oyler School. Raised crosswalks force drivers to slow down while making pedestrians more visible—a clear statement that community safety matters more than vehicle speed. The project includes four planters that volunteers will plant in spring 2026.
This victory came from neighbors who refused to accept the status quo, showed up to meetings, and built relationships with city officials. Change happens through sustained, strategic organizing that builds power over time.
People Over Pavement: 14,392 Doors, One Clear Message
Our People Over Pavement canvassing campaign delivered impressive results:
14,392 doors knocked
1,781 meaningful conversations with residents
83.7% support rate among those who engaged
495 combined hours from top engagement specialists Lucy, Kat, and Mackenly, who knocked nearly 8,000 doors
What We Learned: Communities Know What They Need
When residents shared their transportation priorities, three themes emerged overwhelmingly:
Better Transit - Reliable, frequent public transportation connecting people to jobs, healthcare, and community
Traffic Safety - Streets designed for people, not vehicles at maximum speed
Better Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure - Safe, connected networks providing real transportation choices
What Comes Next
Community open houses in late January 2026 will share detailed findings and develop next steps. Our NEPA lawsuit challenging the I-75 expansion is projected for federal court hearing in mid-2026, informed by the community priorities we documented.
The power of this campaign wasn't just data collection—it was relationships built and awareness raised. Thousands who didn't know about alternatives to highway expansion now understand there's a better path forward.
Cincinnati City Council: Holding Leaders Accountable
In November, advocates spoke out at the Climate, Environment & Infrastructure Committee meeting with a pointed message: if you apologized for past harms, you must prevent future ones.
In 2023, Cincinnati City Council formally apologized to the West End for the racial displacement of 26,000 people through I-75's construction and urban renewal, promising reconciliation and reconnection. Yet when ODOT announced plans to expand that same interstate, threatening those same communities, council remained silent.
Advocates called on committee members—Chairperson Meeka Owens, Vice-Chair Mark Jeffreys, Jeff Cramerding, and Seth Walsh—to fully support West End, Camp Washington, and CUF neighbors, stop funneling funds into highway projects that repeat historical harms, and prioritize people over pavement.
An apology without action is just words. Communities deserve council members who will stand up to ODOT when state agencies threaten the neighborhoods council promised to protect.
College Hill: Community Care in Action
Over 20 volunteers gathered in November to clean and maintain traffic calming infrastructure on Hamilton Avenue and North Bend Road. These measures reduced reckless speeding over 50 mph by 90%, making streets safer for children walking to school, seniors crossing to stores, and cyclists commuting to work.
In April 2024, when the city proposed removing these improvements during repaving, the community rallied to preserve them. Now, while coordinating with the city on formal acceptance of the donated infrastructure, neighbors refuse to let these life-saving measures deteriorate.
This is community power: not waiting for government, but maintaining the safety improvements that protect our neighbors.
Kenton County School Board Transit Access Campaign
We launched a letter-writing campaign to ensure transit accessibility at the new Kenton County Schools central office building opening in December 2025. The current location is completely inaccessible to the 21% of low-income households (35% among families of color) who don't have access to a vehicle.
The campaign calls for the district to partner with TANK and KYTC within 90 days to:
Add bus routes to the new location
Install sidewalks connecting to neighborhoods and transit stops
Ensure families can attend meetings, participate in committees, and apply for jobs without requiring a car
Our advocacy also highlighted that the Kenton County Planning Commission specifically recommended these improvements back in January 2024, but the district chose to ignore their own planning experts' advice.
2026 Sustainability Workshop Scholarships
We're actively promoting full scholarships for Greater Cincinnati advocates to attend four incredible sustainability and transportation workshops in 2026:
TransportationCamp DC (January 10)
NACTO Designing Cities in Minneapolis (May 12-15)
Velo-city 2026 in Rimini, Italy (June 16-19)
IBPI Study Abroad: Sustainable Transportation in Denmark (June 20-July 4)
These scholarships cover all costs—travel, lodging, and registration—for local advocates to learn from global leaders and bring cutting-edge strategies back to our region.
