CINCINNATI — After nearly two years, the $18 million Columbia Parkway Hillside Stabilization Project is essentially finished, just in time for Cincinnati’s historically wetter months.

Contractors began work in November 2019 along U.S. 50 after a series of major landslides shut down the parkway multiple times, causing significant cleanup for city workers and traffic backups for Downtown commuters from the East Side.

“Columbia Parkway was one of those where we were having constant landslides that were falling over the wall,” said city Transportation and Engineering Director John Brazina.

Crews stabilized the hillside in eight to 10 spots, either by building retaining walls or using ground nails and mesh netting to control loose soil.

But the stabilization project, while a dramatic improvement, may not be a final fix for the landslide-prone hillside.

Lot Tan

“Just because we fixed some of the areas on Columbia Parkway, some of the areas may still move,” Brazina said.

Brazina monitors which city hillsides are most vulnerable. In 2019, the city closed a stretch of Elberon Avenue so crews could build a smaller retaining wall. The city has also built several walls to control landslides along sections of Riverside Drive.

Cincinnati is an old city with aging infrastructure. It is built into a hillside and surrounded by rivers, all of which make it especially vulnerable to landslides.

Lot Tan

City leaders predict that climate change and extreme weather events will cause even more landslides and flooding in coming years.

“Over the past ten years, the city of Cincinnati has experienced nine 100-year storm events,” said Michael Forrester, director of the city’s Office of Environment and Sustainability. “We’re seeing this frequency increase, and we’re seeing the impacts in our neighborhoods.”

Forrester predicts the city’s lower-income neighborhoods will be disproportionately affected by climate change because of their lack of trees and green space.

Forrester plans to speak at a virtual event at 6 p.m. on Wednesday about climate change in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The event will focus on Groundwork Ohio River Valley, which worked with NASA DEVELOP's Cincinnati & Covington Urban Development team to study extreme weather’s impact using a hillside analysis.

“Basically, if you live at the top of a hill or at the bottom of a hill, you are exposed to a landslide risk,” Forrester said.

Lot Tan

Landslides occur more frequently in wetter months, when the ground is already saturated, and when trees are dormant in colder months, Forrester said.

“What we’re seeing in our extreme weather patterns is – not only are we seeing more rain, but we’re seeing these microbursts. These very small, isolated areas of extreme storm activity,” Forrester said. “If that happens in the spring and in the summer, that comes down as rain. If that happens in the winter, that comes down as snow.”

Cincinnati officials need to build a “more resilient city” that’s able to stand up to increased heat and water, Forrester said.

“The city of Cincinnati is an old city … so these extreme rain events, they’re dumping water in infrastructure, in storm sewers, in sewers that weren’t designed to handle that amount of water,” Forrester said. “We’re going to see localized flooding as our infrastructure gets overwhelmed.”

Brazina monitors which hillsides are actively moving, especially as extreme weather approaches.

Lot Tan

“Obviously, the heavy rains affect the hillsides but …the after-affect of that is also the flooding,” Brazina said. “The city has all of that infrastructure – roadways, sidewalks, curbs, sewers, traffic signals, all of it gets affected by flooding events.”

Cincinnati, which will someday have a warmer climate similar to that of Little Rock, Arkansas, will fare much better through climate change than many other places, Forrester said.

“The city of Cincinnati itself is in a significantly stronger position than many other cities across the country,” Forrester said. “We’re in a place that has access to water. We’re a place that’s not impacted by coastal storms as much. We’re a place that’s not subjected to wildfires."

To register and watch the free event on the impact of climate change locally, information can be found at https://greenumbrella.org/event-4485393

CINCINNATI — Tuesday marks one month since a section of Riverside Drive closed due to a water main break under the road.

Two local restaurants are feeling the effect of the partial closure, which could last three months, and want people to know they are still ready to serve.

"It's a massive issue for the city, which we are sympathetic on because nobody wants to have to deal with this," said Chris Rose, owner of Sinners and Saints Tavern located at 2062 Riverside Drive.

Rose opened his tavern in October after months of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The months after the opening brought a steadily increasing stream of customers as word-of-mouth spread throughout the East End.

"The neighborhood people were very excited to have us come in and be their neighborhood tavern, bar, restaurant," Rose said.

Then, on Jan. 2, a 60-inch water main break collapsed part of Riverside Drive near Lumber Street, which forced the closure of Riverside to through-traffic. Rose said within the first week of the closure, Sinners and Saints saw a 60-percent decline in business even though the tavern is on a stretch of Riverside that is still open from Collins Avenue west to Downtown.

Danny Yant, owner of The Hi-Mark, which is located on the other side of Riverside's closure at 3229 Riverside Drive, said his restaurant experienced the same initial decline in business, especially during happy hours.

"Overall sales are definitely down," Yant said. "Happy hour crowds definitely hit a little later in the evening now."

Yant added he is "glad the city was at least able to add additional signage" to the intersection of Delta and Riverside, letting people know they can still drive down the closed road to The Hi-Mark, Eli's BBQ and Emma Wine Bar.

He said the signage helped The Hi-Mark recover some of its lost customer traffic. Rose said social media posts helped the tavern let people know Sinners and Saints is still open and accessible.

"The drive to find a way around these obstacles in a really positive manner, that's what we're really trying to do," Rose said. "And just to let everyone know, 'Hey, we're still here. We're still working it out.'"

The last update Greater Cincinnati Water Works, the department in charge of repairing the water main, posted on the city website on Jan. 19 about those repairs stated the department ordered parts and on-site preparations for that work was underway.

"It's an unfortunate situation," Yant said. "It's tough, having turned around somewhat steady business through COVID, to turn around and have to deal with this."