While new, much needed development on Dana Avenue is certainly welcomed, something seems fishy.
Dana Avenue construction has clogged a major artery on Xavier’s campus since early January. Not only does
this impede transportation to one of Xavier’s most-storied watering holes, Dana Gardens, but it also affects
residents of the Village apartments. Despite promises of big fixes and aesthetic improvements, the Newswire
has learned that the construction has been unnecessarily delayed because of easily avoidable problems. These
problems include: communication errors, the city changing the original scope of the plan and a property
owner on Herald Avenue protesting the change.
We refuse to believe that the construction on Dana Avenue has been efficient, timely and so far in the best
interest of the Xavier students. There seems to be a marked lack of transparency, accountability and efficiency
from multiple parties involved in the construction process. There is plenty of blame to go around, and
each side should be more forthcoming with details. To begin, the Ohio Department of Transportation and
Engineering has some explaining to do regarding what specific additional delays have happened. Next on the
hit list is the city of Cincinnati, who clearly cannot coordinate with the state for whatever reason. Seemingly
hiding from all of this is the University. Xavier has been absent in the discussion and should mobilize its
influence in order to get serious results on the Dana Avenue construction project.
The final Dana Avenue could surprise all of us. The current street is not well designed for a growing
university with an increasing on-campus population nor can efficiently move traffic through an expanding
thoroughfare between Avondale and Norwood. While the construction has been very frustrating and verging
on unsafe, the engineers have the potential to alleviate a major problem in Xavier traffic by treating what is
now a small inconvenience,before it grows into a much more serious problem for an expanded Xavier five
to 10 years down the road.