The Beechmont Levee is a speed trap. This mile stretch of road is four lanes with significantly sized breakdown lanes on the outside of both side of the roadway. The lanes are wide and generously laid out. There are no cross streets or exits, except at either end of nearly a mile stretch of road, yet this section is posted at 45MPH.

We have been told that there is a safety concern, thus the slow speed limit. We have been told that there is a similar safety issue on Columbia Pkwy. Although there have been a great deal of bad accidents on Columbia due to speeding, speed checks on Columbia are rare (perhaps one every few days for a few hours at the most). However, as anyone who drives both Beechmont and Columbia every day knows: there is usually one, if not more, law enforcement vehicle checking speed on the Beechmont Levee every day (at almost every part of the day).

The Beechmont Levee is patrolled by cars from the City of Cincinnati Police Department, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputies, and even State of Ohio Highway Patrol. There have been many days that we've seen all three departments at some spot on the Levee at the same time, and sometimes several days/nights in a row in this configuration.

If this was truly a safety issue and not a speed trap, then there would be far more patrols/speed checks on Columbia than on the Beechmont Levee. This is clearly a revenue issue, not an actual safety issue. There are many such roadways with similar configurations around the country with higher speed limits. There are stretches of River Road that are 50MPH with narrower lanes and far smaller or no breakdown lanes. In comparison to other roadways, even within the city and county, there is no reason that the Beechmont Levee should be 45MPH, other than for a speed trap.

This is an unnecessary inconvenience for the residents of Mt. Washington and Anderson, many of whom have no choice but to use the Levee every day for their access to the rest of the city.

This petition, when finished, will be presented to the Cincinnati City Council and the Hamilton County Commissioners with a request for action.