Parents and CPS raise safety concerns as Hyde Park rezoning heads to council

Dozens of Hyde Park residents and Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) officials urged the joint CPS–City Healthy Neighborhoods Committee on April 16 to press for more study and direct coordination on traffic and pedestrian safety near Hyde Park School before a zoning change proceeds to city review.

The comments, including multiple accounts of collisions near the school, came during the meeting's public comment period and a later agenda item on the proposed Hyde Park Square development. The development team’s traffic impact study and a concept map showing doubled-queued pick-up lanes on the school lot drew concern from parents and board members.

Why it matters: Residents said the current and proposed traffic patterns could increase risk for students, and several speakers described serious near-miss incidents and crashes at or near Observatory Avenue. CPS and city staff said the development concept remains negotiable and that a traffic design review is ongoing, but the neighborhood asked for more time and deeper…