"If New Albany courageously changes its streets from one-way to two-way, it will pay for itself with higher home values and better downtown business."
-- John Gilderbloom
Mayor Jeff Gahan tells the C-J's Lexy Gross that it has taken him a very long time to believe his own two eyes ... and yet, after the street grid facts produced by Jeff Speck and John Gilderbloom (among others) are stacked higher than the Elsby Building, he still cannot embrace them publicly.
If any portion of Gahan's wavering "position" strikes you as pro-active in a sense of recognizable "leadership," then please do us the pleasure of explaining exactly how.
... The mayor and city officials are on board for the conversion of some streets, but they're waiting to see how much it would cost the City of New Albany before proceeding.
John Rosenbarger, New Albany public works projects supervisor, said Terra Haute, Ind., firm HWC Engineering is currently examining the city's options and how much it could cost to implement changes. Gahan said 80 percent of the project would be funded through the state and federal departments of transportation.
HWC has given the city two options: Spring Street and Elm Street would stay one-way from the interstate to Vincennes Street, or all of the downtown grid streets – from Oak to Main – would convert to two-way.
Gahan and Rosenbarger said they expect the analysis to take at least a few more months, then the city will release plans and costs for public discussion.
Gahan said he doesn't expect the project to be complete until after the bridges start tolling.
$20 million for parks, and the same old nickels and dimes for essential infrastructure. But at least we know that whatever private assurances continue to be made by City Hall to gullible elected officials, our city still believes one-way traffic on Spring and Elm might be conducive -- and they're going to let us be pounded by pass-through tolling evasion before doing anything at all.
Which means in turn: They're being willfully blind.
Greg Phipps owes us an explanation, doesn't he? Don't hold your breath waiting for it. Here is the link: Will New Albany get 2-way streets before tolls?
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