One Expensive Hole

            Mass transit systems can be likened to the circulatory system of a city in the sense that they help circulate the citizens throughout the body of a city.  The types of systems that these cities employ can vary based upon the needs of its citizens, but perhaps the most well-known in popular culture is the subway.  Unlike many other major cities in the United States, however, Cincinnati never constructed its own subway.  Or perhaps more accurately, it never finished building its subway system as the program was effectively orphaned by the Great Depression.  However, what happened to the remains of the subway that had been completed, but were obviously never opened to the public?

            Naturally, it remained buried beneath the streets of the city that it had been intended to serve.  While it was never entirely forgotten, the city elected to leave it unfinished.  So what purpose could an unfinished subway serve? If Cincy's solution during the early 2000s was any indication, a tourist attraction or local point of interest could at least capture the public imagination, if not recoup the investment.  Tours of the relatively finished sections of the subway were offered and local legends sprang up to keep the boondoggle in the public eye.  There is no other word to illustrate what Cliff Radel described as "$13 million dollar... hole in the ground."[1]  Additionally, the status of the abandoned subway tunnels offer a fascinating "what if" scenario when it comes to the Queen City.  What if the subway had been completed? Would Cincinnati have become less reliant upon cars and busing for mass transit, or would the subway have fallen victim to the ravages of time?  Still, $13 million is one expensive mistake to make on a city-wide scale.

Radel, Cliff. "Subway Legend Has Never Left the Station." Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009), May 24, 2003. 13, 22. https://search-proquest-com.research.cincinnatilibrary.org/docview/1906964680?accountid=39387.

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[1] Radel, Cliff. "Subway Legend Has Never Left the Station." Cincinnati Enquirer (1923-2009), May 24, 2003. 22.