Gahan convenes counter-revolutionary anti-terrorism squads because "business owners want to see changes made to busy New Albany intersection."

As noted in this space on Tuesday, institutional cowardice helps to explain why the Board of Works has routinely ignored complaints about the dangerous intersection of Main and Bank Streets since at least 2015.

To understand this situation, one must don a Hazmat suit, shrink to corpuscle dimensions and climb inside the mind of our terminally bunker-bound mayor, who views the hostile world outside in simple shades of black and white.

Jeff Gahan regards himself as perfect; as such, all his top-down directives must also be perfect, because as Aquinas probably wrote, imperfection cannot ever be the product of perfection.

Therefore, a point of view differing from Gahan's is by definition imperfect, and by extension, those expressing a differing point of view can be doing so for political reasons alone. To Gahan, why else would imperfection exist if not to disrupt his own carefully laid plans? Therefore, opposition always is political,not related to ideas and content.

If you're a Mt. Tabor Road resident, a downtown business owner, a public housing dweller, a bicyclist, a homeowner in an area intended for annexation, owner of a motor vehicle targeted with selective enforcement or supporter of David White, Mark Seabrook or Dan Coffey, you're an enemy.

Your reasons for asking questions are not important, because who questions perfection?

Only a malcontent.

It's Gahan (and to a vastly lesser extent the DemoDisneyDixiecrats) against the world, and if your captive city engineer has been using the same excuse for four long years -- (simper, whimper) we can't do anything to make a street safe for all users unless we conduct a study, which we may or may not consider at some point in the future -- then it's Gahan doing the talking, and what Gahan is saying is this:

Be good little boys and girls, take this medicine I'm giving you, and never forget to be seen glorifying New Gahania, not asking stupid questions of perfection incarnate.

Business owners want to see changes made to busy New Albany intersection, by Hayden Ristevski (WDRB)

Some New Albany business owners have major concerns about a busy intersection.

Cisa Kubley, owner of Sew Fitting, and Stacie Bale, co-owner of Road Runner Kitchen, both said the intersection of Bank and Main Streets is too dangerous.

"We spend all day listening to car tires screeching and horns being blown, because people are in a hurry to get through here,” Kubley said.

It’s hard for drivers to see oncoming traffic on Main Street if they’re attempting to turn off of Bank Street. There also is not an outlined cross walk for people trying to cross Main Street.

"It's scary as a pedestrian to try to cross this street at the width, because you always feel like you have to run,” Kubley said.

There is a crosswalk on Bank Street, but cars turning off of Main Street may have a hard time seeing pedestrians.

"You can't cross it safely,” Bale said ...

Institutional cowardice might explain why the Board of Works has routinely ignored complaints about the dangerous intersection of Main and Bank Streets ... since at least 2015.

In 2017, in 2019. Forever; no change.

Props to Stacie Bale for informing Warren Naps and the Bored of Works that the intersection of Main and Bank is hazardous for pretty much everyone who uses it, drivers included, but especially walkers.

Roadrunner Kitchen owner says dangerous intersection hurting business, by Chris Morris (Hanson's Folly)

NEW ALBANY — Stacie Bale, owner of Roadrunner Kitchen in New Albany, loves her new location at the Underground Station, at the corner of Main and Bank streets. She moved there from her old Main Street location in January.

While the new home is perfect for her restaurant, getting there is a problem — for both pedestrians and vehicles. Trying to cross Main Street from Bank Street is dangerous, Bale told the New Albany Board of Public Works & Safety on Tuesday, and she is looking for the city to add some safety measures.

"We have maintained a lot of our regulars, but tons of pedestrians won't cross the road," she said. "We have 11 businesses there [Underground Station] but due to safety you can't get there. I don't even leave work that way in my car."

Bale is hoping the city can add a traffic light at the intersection. City engineer Larry Summers said there are plans in the works to redo Main Street, from East Fifth Street to State Street "a couple years down the road."

"Part of that is to look at a signal at that location. But before we do that we have to do an analysis to see if a signal is warranted," he said. "We are looking at several different options for that intersection."

Bale is hoping something can be done there sooner rather than later.

"I love it there, and our new landlord is super," she said. "But something needs to be done there to make it safer."

Sew Fitting owner Cisa Kubley, whose shop sits in front of the Underground Station at Bank and Main streets, said the intersection is one of the most dangerous in the city.

"We hear honking and screeching tires every day. Even when there aren't cars parked on Main Street it's still very limited visibility," she said. "People drive far too fast and pay no attention to cars slowing to turn or pedestrians trying to cross."

Let's see.

It was October 29, 2017 (below) -- and Larry Summers probably gave precisely the same robotic answer, because then as now, the people charged with determining safe walking conditions do so from the DRIVER'S SEAT OF THEIR CARS, not with two feet on the ground.

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Main Street intersections at Bank and 4th are hazardous for pedestrians. Where's City Hall, apart from a state of denial?

An increased number of businesses are on the north side of Main Street. More are on the south side (Underground Station) as well as one of the larger expanses of surface parking (by the levee).

Notice the crosswalks and other means of making pedestrian passage across this wide street easier.

That's right. There are none.

The intersection of Bank and Main also is bad for drivers, especially those northbound from the surface lot. It's been two and a half years since this was first pointed out to BOW (reprint below).

Now the situation is worsening at 4th and Main, where Hull & High Water is generating a great deal of foot traffic, both from area parking and the beautified corridor.

Jeff Speck had thoughts about this. These are 17-foot traffic lanes and 8-foot parking depths. That's a whole 50 feet from one side to another, without any effort to slow traffic or assist pedestrians.

Until city officials do something about this, anything they say about "walkability" is to be taken as an insult. After all, it's "not an option," is it?

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May 13, 2015

Board of Works approves new city slogan for new city seal: "It's not an option."

There were many curiosities at yesterday's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, held at the usual 10:00 a.m. slot which precludes so very much in the way of attendance and public input.

We learned that some folks can temporarily close streets with little effort, while others must assemble a petition. We noticed that when it comes to communications, it doesn't. It was reported that John "Human Chainsaw" Rosenbarger will be felling 30+ trees on Thomas Street, and planting 50 more ... and so on.

However, let's focus on just one of the items.

At a previous meeting, local businesses occupying the evolving Underground Station property on the corner of Main and Bank had asked the Board of Works to refit the intersection in front of their building (Main and Bank) into a 4-way stop, and to add a handicapped parking space on Main.

It wasn't surprising to hear street department commissioner Mickey Thompson speak for the board in waving away these requests, but his justifications (and his tone) were puzzling.

As for the handicapped space, Thompson feared establishing a harmful precedent, as though to say that if one business seeks a handicapped space, all of them would. Left unsaid was whether people with handicaps would find this useful.

But isn't the real question this: Why doesn't the city, through its Board of Works, proactively address parking issues and enforce parking ordinances? Why be troubled by a solitary handicapped space when no laws presently are enforced? After all, don't just do something -- stand there.

As for the 4-way stop request, which was made owing to steadily increasing traffic probably resulting from the simple fact that finally there is commercial traffic where before there was none, Thompson could do no better than grunt: "It's not an option." 

The obvious question that should have been asked and answered: "Why Not? Why isn't it an option?" 

We already know that through the top-down marionette otherwise known as the Board of Works and Safety (that word again), the Democratic municipal machine is delaying all movement toward street grid reform for 18 months or more. However, as the intersection of Main and Bank attests, the grid already is unsafe, and in the regrettable vacuum created by Jeff Gahan's politically-inspired and plainly cowardly deferrals, our streets are becoming more unsafe by the day.

Jeff, Warren, Adam ... yo, guys, can we at least have a Band-Aid to staunch the bleeding?

Even a wooden clothespin in place of the necessary tourniquet might help us to stay alive and watch you ineffectually fiddle.

Following are some fair and balanced pros and cons of the 4-way stop.

The Great Stop Sign Experiment, by Sam Newberg (Streets MN)

... In the big picture my personal hope and goal is for my neighborhood (and city) to be a safer place for all ages to walk and bike. If that means cars have to drive slower or there is more congestion in places or at certain times of the day, I’m willing to accept that. If we build and manage our roads to accommodate rush-hour traffic, the livability of our city will suffer at all hours.

LIVE TO EAT (AND DRINK): La Catrina Mexican Kitchen is open, and The Earl will be next week.

Photo credit: New Albany Social.

La Catrina Mexican Kitchen has launched in the former Dragon King Daughter's space at the southeastern corner of Elm and Bank.

New restaurant from Señor Iguanas owners opens, by Bridgett Weaver (Louisville Business First)

... "I lived in Mexico for about two years, and in the time I spent there, I realized the best food you're going to find is on the street," she said.

(Roza) Segoviano grew up in Ohio, but her husband, Juan Segoviano, is from Mexico and they moved there when she was in her early 20s.

La Catrina is the third concept for the Segoviano family. They also own Señor Iguanas, which has four Louisville locations and one in Clarksville, as well as Taqueria Don Juan, on Eastern Boulevard in Clarksville.

The new restaurant was actually born out of the Don Juan concept, Segoviano said, which sells only ceviche and tacos.

"We saw the Americans who were coming in were really digging the authenticity," she said. "So we look that concept and expanded on it. [La Catrina] is like a taco truck, but you don't have to stand up to eat" ...

Meanwhile, I can scarcely recall an establishment during these past few years coming to fruition with as little advance hype as The Earl, a new bar coming to the former Comfy Cow spot on Market Street, although this guy on Yelp awards five stars to a bar that hasn't even opened.

I'll never understand how something that doesn't exist can be reviewed, but okay. Consider the spuriousness of the platform, I suppose. Anyway, according to the far more reputable local source New Albany Social, The Earl will indeed be open on Tuesday, January 8.

Still to come in 2019: the second location of Mirin, in the Main Street storefront where Roadrunner Kitchen was doing business until it announced new digs (coming soon) at Underground Station.

LIVE TO EAT: The advent of La Catrina, Mirin and The Earl proves that investments in food and drink downtown are not abating.

Got all that? It's an election year, and we know who's queuing up to take credit for all these entrepreneurial investments -- you know, the guy who's never been an entrepreneur, not even once.

Wile E. Coyote offers this reminder that the Taco Steve era begins at Bank Street Brewhouse this Saturday.

Nine exclamation marks?

Dude. That's got to be intentional, but it's nothing to do with me, and the good news is that Taco Steve debuts at BSB this Saturday.

Hello New Albanians!

NABC Bank Street Brewhouse has been undergoing some renovations this week. We will REOPEN on Saturday March 3rd from 12p-10p with TACO STEVE!!! Hope to see you all then!!!

In the meantime you can always visit our Pizzeria and Public House located at 3312 Plaza Dr. New Albany, IN 47150 OR one of Downtown New Albany's other fine restaurants!!

Meanwhile, the News and Tribune's Danielle Grady provides insight into the new Main Street eatery concept from the former BSB kitchen crew.

Roadrunner Kitchen in New Albany serves homemade lunches fast

NEW ALBANY — Just over a month ago, Stacie Bale and Sarah Hastings were working at Bank Street Brewhouse in downtown New Albany in the evenings — making the hamburgers and “bar bites” that customers would snack on while enjoying beer from New Albanian Brewing Company’s wide selection.

Bale and Hastings got along with NABC’s owners, but, recently, they had lost interest in the job.

“The beer is the focus there, not the food,” Bale said.

Roadrunner Kitchen has opened; Double Barrel (bourbon bar) next on the agenda at 147 E. Main.

Kevin Gibson is spending a lot of time in New Albany.

New bourbon bar, Double Barrel, to open in former Match New Albany location, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

Match Cigar Bar’s short stay in downtown New Albany won’t leave a vacancy for long: Double Barrel, a bourbon bar and lounge, hopes to open in the spot at 147 E. Main St. sometime in early March.

The aesthetic won’t change too much — much of the décor and furniture still remain, at least for the time being — but there won’t be smoking, and part of a wall was knocked out to facilitate an extra bar.

The place offers a serene, laid-back atmosphere bordered with exposed brick and accented with modern furniture and lighting. The copper-backed main bar is already loaded with dozens of spirits, with more to come.

The queue for pole position across Main Street from our forthcoming Anchor Inc civic HQ already has witnessed an opening: Roadrunner Kitchen, which got started yesterday in the space where Urban Bread used to be.

Roadrunner Kitchen set to open Monday in downtown New Albany, by Kevin Gibson (IL)

Stacie Bale is a proponent of fresh, locally sourced food — but she wants to make it clear that her new venture, Roadrunner Kitchen, is not a vegan restaurant.

A previous restaurant Bale owned and operated, Earth Friends Café, was regarded by many as a vegan establishment, even when there were few if any vegan restaurants open.

“We always had meat,” she said.

Roadrunner Kitchen, which she plans to open Monday, Feb. 26, in downtown New Albany along with business partner Sarah Hastings, will have veggie options, for sure, but it will also feature plenty of meat, cheese and other non-vegan items.

Stacie Bale, late of NABC, reveals new project: Roadrunner Kitchen, coming soon to 145 E. Main Street in downtown New Albany.

Stacie Henehan Bale, late of NABC Cafe & Brewhouse and Earth Friends Cafe, has departed NABC and will launch a new venture called Roadrunner Kitchen. It will fill the space at 145 E. Main most recently occupied by Urban Bread Company.

She explains all at Roadrunner Kitchen's Facebook page.

Hello all! I am opening a new concept with my partner, Sarah Hastings. It will be similar to Earth Friends Cafe in that we will focus on sourcing sustainable, local products including local meats and produce. Earth Friends was founded on utilizing local resources - most especially from local farmers - and although many believed it to be primarily plant-based, it was always focused on sourcing from local farmers, including meat and eggs.

Our new concept will focus on the same philosophy as my former business, with the addition of VERY QUICK SERVICE. Consumers will have the option of waiting under 15 minutes for hot items, or choosing the option of grabbing a freshly prepared wrap or salad from our grab and go cases, paying by kiosk, and being out the door in less than five minutes - if necessary.

Also available will be housemade soups, espresso, smoothies and freshly prepared juices.

This concept will be for all types of consumers, but the focus will be on FAST and DIVERSE!

We will be located at 145 E. Main Street in downtown New Albany. We will be a quick breakfast and lunch service.

Hope to see you soon! Our target opening date is sometime in late February or March.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Stacie Henehan Bale

A pertinent question was raised in the comments section beneath Bale's post at Facebook.

In short: With Bale departed, what's to become of the food service at NABC's Cafe & Brewhouse?