New Albany mumbles vaguely about pedestrians as Jeffersonville actually plans for them.

Just a few questions, okay?

Are NA city officials even aware of Jeffersonville's sudden discovery that walking and biking are recreational activities in and of themselves?

Am I the only one thinking that perhaps it isn't sudden at all, and Jeffersonville actually grasps the potential impact of bridge construction and tolling, and is being pro-active in making the best of what could be a very bad situation?

Aren't we in NA going to experience these bad situations, too?

Why would the automobile lobby pay for this degree of protection in NA when it tends to get its daily enthronement for free?

Is it interesting how many new recreational sites NA will have, none of which will be accessible apart from a car?

First, Jeffersonville's plans, as reported in the N & T:

Planners finalize a pedestrian-bicycle plan for Jeffersonville, by Braden Lammers

Once the Big Four Bridge ramp is complete in November, Jeffersonville officials envision pedestrians and bicyclists continuing on paths throughout the city.

While it might not be implemented by the time the bridge ramp is finished, a plan has been devised to improve access for pedestrians and bicyclists in Jeffersonville. Despite the plan’s infancy, downtown business owners see big things down the road.

“I just think this is wonderful, not only for all of us local people ... but it’ll be a great tourist draw,” said Linda Williams, owner of the Old Bridge Inn at the corner of Pearl and Chestnut streets, where pedestrians will enter the city from the Big Four Bridge ramp. “Tourism, especially heritage tourism — Jeffersonville just fits into that so well for the bed and breakfast [and] for the shop keepers here. We need new sidewalks, that’s improvement number one ... having bike lanes, that’s another thing for people that like to take their bikes when they travel.”

But at least we're coming around to beginning to consider a conjecturing of the approximate theoretical concept of a sidewalk, without so much as touching on the streets themselves. That's the NA experience in a nutshell.

Pedestrian safety a concern in New Albany, by Daniel Suddeath (N & T)

John Rosenbarger, director of public facilities projects for the city, said New Albany last commissioned a sidewalks analysis in 1991.

“It hasn’t been updated comprehensively since then,” he said.