Toto, we're not on Spring Street any more -- and other 2-pocalypse fallout shelters.

In which a mayor previously unwilling to utter a coherent public statement about street grid modernization stuns the planet with this, referring to the intersection at Spring and Vincennes (my italics):

“There should be some congestion there, When you're coming into a city, you need to slow down.”

Excerpting the Christian Chronicle's coverage, let's focus on Jeff Gahan's uncharacteristically forward and factual comments.

Here's how the first few days of two-way street conversion went in New Albany, by Danielle Grady (Hanson Pew & Proselytize)

Public waiting to make judgement on changes

 ... In Gahan's eyes, most everything has gone smoothly since the roads opened.

“Especially if you're a resident like me, a life-long resident, it's going to feel weird,” he said. But, he continued, once you've driven the streets a few times and you've had the freedom to turn right or left, he believes that you'll find a safer city within the new traffic configuration.

“My take on it is, if you're used to driving very fast in New Albany, you're not going to like it,” he said. “But if you're a business owner in New Albany, if you're a resident of New Albany, if you're a pedestrian or bicyclist in New Albany — New Albany's your home. I think you're really going to like your new combinations and possible routes and the reduction in speed.”

Then, in an interesting preview of Campaign 2019 (kudos to Grady for this juxtaposition), Gahan's probable GOP opponent finds himself prone to exaggeration.

Now, now Mark -- four? You could walk faster than that, and perhaps should.

But slower traffic on New Albany streets means more congestion. That's one thing Mark Seabrook, the owner of Seabrook Dieckmann Naville Funeral Homes on Market St., isn't too happy about. At the intersection of Vincennes and Spring streets, its taken him four light changes to make it through.

Still, he said, "I'm not going to give you a verdict on whether I like it or dislike it until I see what the total piece is. It could either get worse or it could get better.

Stunningly, as though genuinely adept at debating, the mayor scores points against Seabrook, who has not ever showed even a slight grasp of street grid modernity.

Gahan admits that there is some “modest” congestion on the newly converted streets, particularly at Spring and Vincennes, but it's intentional.

“There should be some congestion there,” he said. “When you're coming into a city, you need to slow down.”

Gahan 1, Seabrook 0 ... but it's early yet.