You knew it was coming, and when it did, I could almost hear Chris Morris say: "Padgett has been at its location for more than 50 years. What is Padgett suppose to do, close?"
Only Chris Morris could transform 80,000 lbs of speeding metal into a victim.
Chris Morris's "opinions" rarely surprise. We know he'll defend the status quo right down to the last at bat, but to make matters worse, he now has chosen to conflate criticism of his own persistent editorial ineptitude with an entire body of complete streets evidence that proves him mistaken, yet again.
Naturally, the same argument was being made by numerous southerners in the year 1861: We've had slaves for 200 years. What are we supposed to do, pay a fair wage to free men?"
It bears repeating, again and again, so often that even Irv Stumler might be compelled to listen: At no point anywhere within Jeff Speck's downtown street network proposals is there the slightest suggestion to eliminate city streets as an option for heavy industry and trucking firms.
Rather, there are hundreds of fruitful suggestions for making city streets better for everyone, not just industrial users.
As before, I suggest that Morris do the unthinkable and actually read the proposals. However, as a safety measure, I'll refrain from holding my breath.
Until then, News and Tribune reader William Transue is spot-on with this jeer, providing further testimony to what Morris and others continue to willfully and maliciously miss -- and what the bureaucratic likes of Warren Nash keeps buried at the command of City Hall.
READER JEERS
... to Chris Morris, assistant editor at the News and Tribune for his opinion as it relates to the problems that would result if the one-way streets are converted to two-way.
After his ride with “Uncle Mike” from — I bow my head when I mention this name — the Padgett Group, he said how difficult it would be to turn onto East Spring Street from Fourth Street. He would have to turn into the far lane and tie up traffic in two lanes. Isn’t that what would happen now when his turning holds up traffic going west on Spring Street? Does Mike not have any problems on any other one-way streets that he travels after he leaves New Albany?
What Morris fails to include in his editorial is how frequently does a Padgett crane leave the yard and go on the aforementioned route? In order to be unbiased, Chris should have parked his vehicle on East 11 Street and East Elm — which by the way is a little more than 100 feet from a stop street — on any day or two between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. and see how much speeding actually occurs during that time. This, by the way, can be slowed down with two-way traffic. East Elm Street is actually a main entrance into New Albany the last time I checked.
As far as Warren Nash wanting to “really do it right,” he should have started the feasibility study months ago after receiving the Speck report. Again, as Mr. Nash stated, “we really need to do it right” and convert East Spring and East Elm to two-way streets and bring lower speeds, elevation of home values and safety to the residents of these streets.
— William Transue, New Albany
