Chief Bailey on two-way streets: "I'm a big fan. I wish we had done this 20 years ago."

Correspondingly (from The Bookseller):

You know, it's hard to imagine what New Albany could have been if, as Chief Bailey said, this had happened 20 years ago. The nature of downtown would have been entirely different and the economy would have been unimaginably stronger.

It's the end of the beginning, nothing more.

In order to maximize the new two-way grid for pedestrians and bicyclists, we'll now be compelled to fight it out, intersection by intersection, with a City Hall still terrified to be seen as inconveniencing drivers.

So it goes, but at least it's genuinely good news that police and fire approve.

First responders give New Albany's street conversion good reviews, by Chris Morris (Hanson Paywall Empire)

NEW ALBANY — While New Albany's street modernization plan is still in its infancy, it is getting rave reviews from first responders.

Spring, Market, Elm, Bank and Pearl streets were recently converted from one-way to two-way traffic. Elm was the last street to be flipped and so far there have been few complaints from the public.

Both New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey and Fire Chiel Matt Juliot said at the Board of Works meeting Tuesday that response times have improved since the switch, and Bailey added that the conversion has slowed traffic, which is what it was intended to do ...

... "It's been very positive," Bailey said of the conversion. "I'm a big fan. I wish we had done this 20 years ago."