An effort to block a streetcar line in Cincinnati, represented here by the solid yellow line, was defeated at the polls. (courtesy cincystreetcar.com)

On Tuesday, voters in Cincinnati voted to reject Issue 9, a proposed charter amendment that would have made any passenger rail-related spending conditional on ballot approval. The amendment appeared to be an effort to block the proposed Downtown to Uptown streetcar line. Now that the ballot measure has been defeated, the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that local officials appear poised to announce significant Federal funding to advance the project.