Council's misdirected paving Band-Aids, Shane's implicit concession and dollar signs like diseased trees, all around.

As considered previously, tonight the city would like for you to choose between celebrating localism at the Calumet Club, and sitting attentively like good, disciplined students while its pre-determined aquatics plans are buffed and polished at Fairmont.

Not good.

Concurrently, last night at the April Fool's edition of the city council, city attorney Shane Gibson replied to a question by Diane Benedetti. She asked whether the administration is aware of the street grid challenges to come when bridge construction and tolling are initiated, and if so, is there a plan?

Gibson said yes, there is. If crazy vague, it is perhaps the first public acknowledgement on the Gahan team's part that someone, somewhere is aware of the immediate future of streets in the city.

Good.

Except that at the same time, last evening's work session and meeting were again dominated by utterly detached ruminations on how fast the city can bond too much more money to apply temporary paving Band-Aids to outmoded and broken roads, while refusing to think about street grid alternatives. $6 million for paving quite clearly is a City Hall initiative. Another $10 - $13 million for a handful of parks. I'm not an alarmist, but if in fact there is a street grid plan, where's the money going to be found?

Not good.

Another episode last evening: City planner Scott Wood countered Dan Coffey's zoning rant by suggesting that it's time to rethink the city's archaic bundle of zoning contradictions, gently suggesting that two decades has a way of changing things. John Gonder then did something quite amazing: He said the words "form based code" aloud, at a city council meeting, in New Albany.

I glanced furtively at the police, concerned that Gonder might be forcibly removed from the room. He wasn't. There was an audible sigh.

If planning and zoning rules and regulations are due a comprehensive rethink, and they are, then why not the street grid, too? Wouldn't this be a better use of time and money BEFORE $6 million is spent paving useless stretches of tarmac?

Or is it too much to expect that a question like this can get a serious hearing in a city determined to fight yesterday's battles, and lose?

Vision? Anyone?

Bueller?

(Link to newspaper coverage)

"Welcome to Toll Free New Albany."

Yes, our official civic slogan has been written for us by the likes of Kerry Stemler, who spent Wednesday in a state of multi-orgasmic stupor, cuddling a souvenir facsimile of Reardon Metal from the Church of Ayn Rand, slobbering atop reams of falsified CDM Smith tolling statistics, and singing hymns of praise to Mitt Romney in a raspy, capitalism-ravaged voice.

New Albany's strategy now becomes so incredibly simple that Bob Caesar will never grasp it for as long as he lives: Begin a ceaseless comprehensive complete streets program now to avert the detrimental aspect of a toll-free Sherman Minton (i.e., oblivious pass-through traffic damaging our neighborhoods) and educate the masses as to the "come to NA" benefits of the very same toll-free bridge.

It isn't a question of money. Do we have the civic intelligence and political courage to put the hammer down on bad traffic, and skim the benefits of good traffic? Let the debate begin, and Bob, just for once, perhaps you can read up on it -- wait, not so fast ... put that IRS code book down ...

Feds OK tolling for bridges project, by Braden Lammers (The "Bama Pensioners Luv Chick-fil-A Journal)

LOUISVILLE — The Federal Highway Administration has approved tolling as part of the financing plan for the Ohio River Bridges Project.

The $2.6 billion plan to construct an east-end bridge, a new downtown bridge and to reconstruct Spaghetti Junction has long awaited word from the federal government on tolling the new infrastructure in order to pay for the project.

Tolls will appear on “only on the new east-end crossing and the downtown crossing, which includes a new I-65 bridge for northbound traffic only and a revamped Kennedy Bridge for southbound traffic only,” according to a press release.