On the very same day that David Duggins, the city's presumed economic development director, informed a room filled with downtown merchants that they needn't be interested in piddling infrastructure concerns when the customarily disjointed, uncoordinated "special event this weekend" marketing efforts aided scantily (if at all) by his crack team of One Southern Indiana oligarchy-fluffing veterans seem to be going so very swimmingly, there was a Board of Public Works meeting.
Downtown business owner: "Without the city itself doing more, we can kiss (revitalization) goodbye."
After reciting the pledge of allegiance to what remains of the local Democratic Party while facing a portrait of Walt Disney, a lapdog board displaying no visible signs of fatigue following a physically demanding weekend of prayer breakfasts approved an earthshaking street reform that caused puzzled observers to wonder: "Why pay Jeff Speck when they can retrofit East 5th Street with some spray paint and leftover stop signs?"
Nov 18 New Albany approves two-way conversion for East Fifth Street, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)
NEW ALBANY — One way versus two-way streets has been a hot topic of discussion in New Albany over the past year.
Though not on as large of a scale as what some have called for, the city moved Tuesday to convert one street to two-way traffic.
To coincide with improvements made to East Main Street, the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety agreed to switch East Fifth Street to two-way traffic from Culbertson Avenue to Main Street.
City Engineer Larry Summers suggested the conversion in order to “better provide access to the businesses, clubs and residences along E. Fifth Street.”
The three-member board of works — which is appointed by the mayor — approved the request without much discussion.
Larry surely did not intend to do so, but he has nonetheless contributed yet another mysterious phrase for examination by those of us who genuinely care about words, their meaning, and the primacy of ideas: "Better access" now takes its place alongside "quality of life" and "public safety" as concepts the Gaha administration is utterly incapable of defining coherently amid their all too frequent use.
But the entertainment doesn't stop there.
Main Street is already a two-way route, and the bulk of improvements to the road including the addition of grassy medians were recently completed ...
The board took under advisement a $289,141 change order for the work Tuesday.
Wes Christmas, an engineer with the city-hired firm Clark-Dietz, said the additional costs were for the removal of an abandoned railroad track discovered during construction, added paving expenses and the complete reconstruction of Main Street between Vincennes Street and 16th Street.
What the hell. A few hundred thousand here, a few more there ... and then there is Mr. Christmas, who contributes a wonderful aside.
Christmas said he reviewed the change order with city legal staff “ad nauseam”, but added he had no issue with the board of works taking extra time to review the proposal.
Really, Wes?
Ad nauseam? I'll give you a better usage than that:
"City officials and Clark-Dietz have insisted ad nauseam that the Main Street Project would achieve its desired ends, but they lied through their collective sets of teeth."
Take it away, JeffG.
You gotta love the Main Street Project. City officials promised commercial trucks would not be diverted to other streets and that traffic would slow down. A couple million dollars later, trucks have been diverted and the remaining traffic is speeding along as usual. In New Albany, that's batting a thousand.
Maybe it's time we all checked into those U-Haul prices -- or a treatment facility.
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