Ohio 4 stretches roughly 3.2 miles between Hamilton welcome signs. On one end, suburban greenery. On the other, a commercial cacaphony. Along the way are numerous chain retail shops and restaurants, a few local gems, and car dealers — lots of car dealers.
It’s one of the busier stretches of Hamilton, but it has no identity, no unifying character, according to Gary Richards, business district manager of ReDiscover Hamilton.
He and others worry that this is causing the area to stagnate, and gives a poor first impression to motorists as they enter the city.
“We need to build some momentum, energize the private sector out there, and work with the city to implement the comprehensive plan and help beautify the overall aesthetics out there,” Richards said. “We have a long way to go.”
A “Route 4 Corridor Improvement Plan” drafted this year proposes establishing a business association — which Richards is working on — cleaning up signage, adding murals and sculptures, and adding sidewalks and bike paths the length of the roadway.
“It’s so long and it’s so large and it doesn’t have that neighborhood feel to it,” Richards said.
Business owner Ashley Hyde-Tuley loves the idea, though she harbors some skepticism. Institutionalized poverty has taken a toll on nearby neighborhoods, she said, and the city throws up red tape when she tries to make improvements.
Hyde-Tuley helps manage Hyde’s Restaurant, famous for made-from-scratch meals and delectable pies since her grandfather opened it in 1946. She remembers seeing photos of Ohio 4 when the place first opened.
“It was tree-lined,” she said. “It was so pretty.”
A historical thoroughfare
It was Ohio 4 and the coincidental brand name of a watch that brought Jolly’s hot dog drive-in to Hamilton 71 years ago.
The story, according to current owner Gregory Jolivette, is that his father was traveling the Midwest looking for the perfect drive-in location. As he drove down Ohio 4 from Dayton to Cincinnati, he suddenly stopped and noticed the large intersection at High Street.
“He said, ‘what city is this?’” Jolivette said. “He had no idea. He went back to La Crosse (Wisconsin) and told my mom, ‘We got a choice between Gary, Indiana and Hamilton, Ohio.”
Mrs. Jolivette’s father had a Hamilton watch — made in Pennsylvania — so she chose Hamilton. The Jolivettes built the drive-in and moved into a trailer behind it. The year was 1938.
“That’s where all the businesses located, was along the Route 4s and the Route 27s, throughout the communities,” Jolivette said. “That’s where businesses went because that’s where cars were traveling.”
The corridor’s current state is a legacy of its past, clues to which are scattered along the roadway.
Parts of Ohio 4 are called Erie Highway because the road stretches along what was once the Miami-Erie Canal. The final local remnants of the canal were destroyed in the 1913 flood and the highway was paved in 1926, according to city officials.
Parts are called Dixie Highway because it was part of a major U.S. highway by that name stretching all the way to Florida.
And as the corridor thrived as a transportation lifeline, businesses sprouted up along it to cater to motorists: motels, drive-ins, auto repair shops and dealerships. Roughly 34 percent of the businesses along Ohio 4 today exist to provide services to people in their cars, according to a recent city study.
“Over the last four decades, development has shifted from industrial plants to retail stores, commercial strip shopping centers, fast food restaurants and auto sales lots,” the study says. “The legacy of this auto-centric development and lack of continuous, safe pedestrian access continue to negatively impact the prosperity of the area.”
Improvements needed but costly
That study — known as the Route 4 Corridor Improvement Plan — was drafted earlier this year. The plan identifies blight and lack of identity as two of the biggest problems facing the stretch of highway.
One proposed solution is adding sidewalks the length of the road, though that effort has only resulted in unconnected spurs of walkway so far. Another proposal suggests adding trees.
“Improved roadway landscaping and tree planting encourages walking, slows vehicle speeds, reduces accident rates and decreases criminal activity,” the report states.
The plan also calls for public art, street furniture, lighting, bicycle racks, planters and benches.
“It takes money to now implement (the strategic plan),” said Gary Richards, who is trying to form an Ohio 4 business district association through ReDiscover Hamilton. “It’s been neglected so long.”
Richards said the business owners along the corridor should keep meeting, then go to the city and other funding sources with a unified voice for grant requests.
But so far, he says the association is “a group of people who meet occasionally.”
Business owners say they are open to the idea of an association, as long as it can accomplish something and not just waste their time.
‘The face of Route 4’
Will all this work? Some are more optimistic than others.
Ashley Hyde-Tuley — whose family has run Hyde’s Restaurant on Ohio 4 since 1946 — said she would love to see the area turn around. But she would rather the city gave her help than issued her ultimatums.
She said she tried to update her old sign some time ago, but the city said that to get a permit she would have to upgrade the sign pole as well, which she couldn’t afford. So the old sign and pole stayed.
“If you want us to look better and present ourselves better to Route 4, don’t make it so hard,” she said. “Go to bat for me. (Tell me) ‘I want to see you succeed and see Route 4 succeed.’”
A similar story came from Stephen and Belinda Ricketts, owners of the Country Foxes Lounge by the county fairgrounds. Like Hyde-Tuley, they said American culture favors chain restaurants.
“Things are changing. People are going to your Outbacks and places like that, and people aren’t supporting your small bars anymore,” Stephen Ricketts said.
For Jolly’s, it has been a good ride since 1938. The drive-in expanded to other locations, Jolivette’s family did well, and he is now a Butler County commissioner.
But Jolivette agreed that the future is clearly more uncertain than the past. He said he doesn’t know how long his business will be around, as his children have other dreams than taking over Jolly’s.
He hopes to see the family business celebrate 100 years, but he has seen a lot of places come and go along the historic corridor.
“The face of Route 4 has changed with the different businesses,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.
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