Thursday, August 04, 2016

Chronicles of New Gahania: Mt. Tabor Road residents form civil defense squad to guard against John Rosenbarger.


The name may have changed to suit the Down Low Bunker's ever-shifting propaganda needs ...

The city's spin doctors have outdone themselves on this one: Meet the "Mt. Tabor Road Restoration and Pedestrian Safety Project."


 ... but the neighborhood doesn't seem to be hitting on the bait.

New Albany plans intersection changes in spite of neighbor's concerns, by Travis Ragsdale (WDRB)

The city of New Albany’s plan to redo a busy intersection is being met with resistance from neighbors in the area.

The city announced on Monday that Mt. Tabor Road at Klerner Lane is set to undergo a major makeover. According to the city, the project includes 1.1 miles of new road construction, curbs, new drainage system and sidewalks.

However, some neighbors aren’t thrilled ...

As usual, NAC associate editor Bluegill drills the very center of the target.

Decades of poor planning and development decisions on New Albany's outskirts have created automobile traffic and drainage problems where there were none. Now, the City says that by redesigning the road for more cars going even faster, they're improving pedestrian safety and by substantially increasing the amount of impermeable surface area they're improving drainage. If any of our city planners or engineers had an ounce of intellectual and professional integrity, they'd speak up in opposition. That's pretty much a guarantee they won't. A decent mayor, should we ever get one, will fire all of them.

Meanwhile, the city's position seems to be that if the federal government will pay 80% of it, there is no project we won't do. If the Feds proposed to pay 80% of the cost of digging a canal from Falling Run Creek to the lake at Community Park, those bids would be opened next morning.

What we lack is a city-wide master plan borne of citizen participation that would help to prioritize these projects as part of a unified whole.

But here's the inside joke: Ultimately, a percentage of any such project cost loops back to the campaign finance slush coffers via the usual engineers and contractors. It is this, not sensibly defined need, that motivates the orange pylons.

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