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Cincinnati’s abandoned subway system, consisting of two miles of tunnels, was almost completed in the 1920s before funding collapsed. It would cost $100.5 million to revive it for modern use, but it is currently being used to house a water main and fiber optic cables.
The Ohio city of Cincinnati almost had a rapid transit system. In fact, about two miles (3.2 km) of subway tunnels still sit under Central Parkway on the edge of the city’s downtown, surprisingly well-preserved after nearly 100 years of neglect. The plan for a 16-mile (26 km) loop was originally valued at $12 million, and $6 million in bonds was spent securing rights-of-way and building tunnels, stations, and bridges. However, in the late 1920s, the city’s willingness to complete the project waned, due to rising costs, inflation, collapsing funding, political wrangling, and the onset of the Great Depression.
A tunnel that leads nowhere:
As of August 2016, the abandoned tunnel was being used to house a relocated water main and some fiber optic cables.
In 2008, it was estimated that it would cost $2.6 million annually to continue to maintain the tunnels, $19 million to fill the tunnels with earth, and $100.5 million to revive the tunnels for use modern subway. Relocating the 52-inch (132 cm) water main would cost $14 million.
“We have had people contact us about using the tunnel for everything from malting grain to a water bottling operation to nightclubs,” said Michael Moore, director of transportation and engineering for the city, in 2016.
