CINCINNATI – The City of Cincinnati launched a new Outdoor Street Dining pilot program to help local restaurants and bars responsibly and successfully reopen their businesses in light of new health orders from the State of Ohio. In order to provide additional room for these establishments to safely operate, some street segments in neighborhoods across the city will remain closed for up to 90 days.

The affected streets and the areas of closure this weekend include:

Over-the-Rhine

• 14th Street - closed between Race Street and Republic Street and closed between Republic Street and Vine Street (Republic Street will remain open)
• 15th Street - closed between Vine Street and Republic Street and closed between Republic Street and Race Street (Republic Street will remain open)

Pendleton

• Broadway - closed between 12th and 13th streets (2-way traffic provided between 13th Street and Grear Alley to maintain local access)

East End

• Wenner Street - closed between Riverside Drive and Babb Alley

In addition to the street closures, some parking lanes are reduced in various areas across the City to help accommodate additional outdoor seating for food service establishments. Businesses in the following neighborhoods are currently participating: OTR, Pendletown, the Central Business District, Sayler Park, Mt. Adams and more.

Participating businesses had to apply for, and receive, a revocable street privilege license from the City of Cincinnati in order to block off a portion of the right-of-way to traffic.

You can find additional information about the street closures and parking lane restrictions at the following link: https://bit.ly/2zb6Ka5. Residents can also submit feedback about the various locations.

Additional businesses will likely take part in the Outdoor Street Dining pilot in the coming days and weeks, so please continue to check the map as the information is subject to change. The City of Cincinnati will continue to provide public notice of these changes as well.

About Outdoor Street Dining Pilot

As the country works to recover from the devastation of COVID-19, the City of Cincinnati continues its work with neighborhood leadership, residents, and private business owners to help Cincinnatians return to a sense of normalcy in their day-to-day lives.

One way the City aims to accomplish that goal is the development of a pilot expedited permit process that enables many restaurants and bars to temporarily expand their outdoor dining and service areas onto the public right-of-way (public sidewalk or street) or into privately owned parking facilities in order to comply with COVID-19 prevention best practices during the public health emergency.

The goal of the Temporary Outdoor Street Dining program is to empower participating restaurants/bars to reopen in a manner that is both fiscally reasonable for the business and socially responsible for its customers. Information gathered from this pilot may be used to inform future development of a longer-term program to address best practices for COVID-19 prevention.

The City of Cincinnati will work promptly to assess and onboard all eligible businesses.

Businesses wishing to learn more information should visit:

cincinnati-oh.gov/restaurantsandbars