Grid Control, Vol. 19: In a positive move, HWC begins righting the wrong cross hatching on Spring Street.

It's been roughly six weeks since NAC broke the errant cross hatching story.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

At the most recent BoW meeting, city engineer Larry Summers said he expected repairs to occur before the debut of two-way traffic, and that doing so would not require the westbound lane of Spring Street to be closed.

The News and Tribune covered the meeting, but omitted this part.

At any rate, the work was underway before the end of the week, beginning at 4th Street and moving east.

That's all. Here's your weekend Deaf Gahan highlight (@deafgahan):

---

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 18: Finally a few BoW street grid project answers, almost all of them citing "contractor error."

Grid Control, Vol. 17: Judging by the misdirection of this "CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP" sign, we now reside in the British Empire.

Grid Control, Vol. 16: What about HWC's cross hatching correction? Will this be finished before or after Team Gahan declares victory?

Grid Control, Vol. 15: Dooring enhancement perfectly epitomizes Deaf Gahan's "biking last" approach to grid modernization.

Grid Control, Vol. 14: Yes, you can still park on the south side of Spring Street during the stalled two-way grid project.

Grid Control, Vol. 13: "Dear Deaf Gahan and minions: FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP TRYING TO BE COOL AND DESIGNER-ISH. YOU'RE NOT, AND IT'S EMBARRASSING ALL OF US."

Grid Control, Vol. 12: Meet the artistic crosswalk design equivalent of dogs playing poker.

Grid Control, Vol. 11: HWC Engineering meets with St. Marks, city officials nowhere to be found.

Grid Control, Vol. 10: City officials predictably AWOL as HWC Engineering falls on its sword over striping errors.

Grid Control, Vol. 9: "This was supposed to be discussed with us," but Dear Leader doesn't ever discuss, does he?

Grid Control, Vol. 8: City Hall characteristically mum as HWC Engineering at least tries to answer the cross-hatching question.

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 16: What about HWC's cross hatching correction? Will this be finished before or after Team Gahan declares victory?

On June 22, NA Confidential offered this news item.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

City Hall shifted into bunker mentality, then on June 29, the blog verified that HWC had conceded error.

Grid Control, Vol. 9: "This was supposed to be discussed with us," but Dear Leader doesn't ever discuss, does he?

The following day (June 30), the News and Tribune picked up the story and reported a seeming resolution.

Engineering firm to pay for, fix error spotted in New Albany street conversion striping (Elizabeth Beilman)

Not a bad outcome at all, and an unusual one given New Albany's slothful history, but give HWC credit. The firm acknowledged the problem and said it would pay to rectify it.

Today, for the first time since June 21, the newspaper dispatched a reporter (Chris Morris; New Albany street conversion likely to begin next month) to the weekly meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety. It's been 19 days since the newspaper reported HWC's cross hatching snafu admission, and this morning was the first BOW meeting it has covered since then, and so when the testimony was given ...

Sonny Dickerson, with HWC Engineering, told the New Albany Board of Public Works & Safety Tuesday that Spring Street will be ready for two-way traffic early next month. He said all the new signage and signal heads have been installed, except for State Street. Decorative crosswalk designs are also being installed and Market, Elm, Bank and Pearl streets will soon receive permanent street striping. Dickerson also told the board that his firm will give the city a week's notice before conversion, in order to get the word out and inform the public.

 ... doesn't the one necessary follow-up question -- the question most in need of being asked -- go something like this:

Does this time frame include the cross hatching correction?

Of course, neither the city nor HWC has yet to explain the parking space size disparity on the north side of Spring between Vincennes and 4th.

What about that?

Then there's the death trap in waiting at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Can City Hall so much as acknowledge that something will have to be done about this dangerous intersection?

These are two of the questions that still need to be answered.

There'll be more.

Maybe if we had a councilman willing to ask ...

---

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 15: Dooring enhancement perfectly epitomizes Deaf Gahan's "biking last" approach to grid modernization.

Grid Control, Vol. 14: Yes, you can still park on the south side of Spring Street during the stalled two-way grid project.

Grid Control, Vol. 13: "Dear Deaf Gahan and minions: FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP TRYING TO BE COOL AND DESIGNER-ISH. YOU'RE NOT, AND IT'S EMBARRASSING ALL OF US."

Grid Control, Vol. 12: Meet the artistic crosswalk design equivalent of dogs playing poker.

Grid Control, Vol. 11: HWC Engineering meets with St. Marks, city officials nowhere to be found.

Grid Control, Vol. 10: City officials predictably AWOL as HWC Engineering falls on its sword over striping errors.

Grid Control, Vol. 9: "This was supposed to be discussed with us," but Dear Leader doesn't ever discuss, does he?

Grid Control, Vol. 8: City Hall characteristically mum as HWC Engineering at least tries to answer the cross-hatching question.

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 10: City officials predictably AWOL as HWC Engineering falls on its sword over striping errors.

You know, the striping errors first brought to the community's attention here at NA Confidential, about which we informed newspaper management, which might repay the favor by acknowledging the tip. If this blog and its friends hadn't been paying attention, would the newspaper?

I think you already know the answer, but small victories, people.

Holding contractors responsible for their work, if not a fluke in this instance, would represent a huge shift in the city's institutional monetization culture, but let's not forget that the design submitted by the engineers at City Hall's clueless direction is a colossal missed opportunity in terms of bicycling infrastructure.

Meanwhile, baseball Hall of Famer Jim Rice of HWC flails and prevaricates, but eventually settles into the litany. Oddly, as he focuses on a "particular location on Spring Street" near 10th, there is no reference to church curb striping controversies, as we referenced yesterday.

And the parking depth shortfall affects "five spots"? That's hooey. The disparity is consistent on the north side of Spring all the way all the way from Vincennes to State, albeit it with different defaults when the bike lanes cease at 4th.

And by the way, Jim, those traffic lanes outside my house are 10 feet, not 11. They should have been 10 feet throughout downtown, but Jeffrey's scared of the trucking lobby, isn't he?

Engineering firm to pay for, fix error spotted in New Albany street conversion striping, by Elizabeth Beilman (Mews and Tribune)

Mistakes affect Spring Street striping

NEW ALBANY — Engineers who designed New Albany’s two-way street conversion are paying for the likely more than $10,000 in costs to fix a striping error they made.

Hannum, Wagle & Cline Engineering is evaluating ways to correct bicycle buffer lanes between the vehicle lane and parking spots on the north side of Spring Street ...

 ... (Rice) said an HWC technician simply drew the lines in the opposite direction — and it was missed during reviews.

“If we design something and we make a mistake … we want to fix it,” Rice said, adding a few people with the firm “feel terrible right now.”

Engineers are evaluating whether to modify the width of some parking spots along Spring Street, as well. Drivers of some cars and trucks have been unable to fit their vehicles inside the spots, wheels parked over the marked line on the pavement. Rice said it affects about five spots.

In that case, contractor Ragle Inc. didn’t follow design plans properly, Rice said.

When the reporter Beilman tried to get a comment out of Jeff Gahan's City Hall, the spokesman (Mike Hall?) referred her to HWC. That's chickenshit, isn't it? Then again, when your own people missed the errors, too ...

Small victories. Microscopic, but still.

---

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 9: "This was supposed to be discussed with us," but Dear Leader doesn't ever discuss, does he?

Grid Control, Vol. 8: City Hall characteristically mum as HWC Engineering at least tries to answer the cross-hatching question.

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 8: City Hall characteristically mum as HWC Engineering at least tries to answer the cross-hatching question.

Miraculously, there has been two-way communication of the sort that always eludes Jeff Gahan's bunker-bound City Hall team.

In cut 'n' paste format:

"Hi Roger – Thanks for your question. HWC did complete design work for this project, and the bike buffer was installed in accordance with the plans. I understand your concerns, and I appreciate you sharing them with us. We’re dedicated to completing this project successfully. We are currently working with the city of New Albany to determine the safest and most effective solution. I’d be happy to provide you with an update once more information becomes available. Thanks!"

And did the topic arise at yesterday's morning's BOW meeting?

Publicly discuss an error?

Those pretend-Democrats would sooner vote for Donald Trump -- as most of them did.

HWC's answer is cloaked in obscurantist bureaucratese, but it's an answer. In "our-way-IS-the-highway" New Gahania, two-way conversation always is to be applauded.

Now, over to the blog's junior editor, Jeff Gillenwater, whose Facebook comment excerpts from Friday characteristically summarize the situation.

It still blows me away that the single largest public works project in and around downtown New Albany in decades is happening in front of our house as I type and I (and everyone else) has to wait until they literally paint the lines on the street to know what it's going to be. Everyone in city government involved in the plan - administration, council, board of public works, planning department, engineering - should be ashamed of themselves ...

 ... Per my other post this morning, not voting for any of the minions currently involved. There's not a currently sitting council member or administrative sycophant who's deserving of public authority or money. I'll actively campaign against any of them as necessary, using their own record ...

 ... I was at the library earlier today and found the federally required environmental study for the street conversion-- probably a hundred pages or so in a big, thick binder. Know what wasn't included in all that (as legally mandated) publicly available information? A copy of the actual plan.

Of course, the "safest and most effective solution" might prove to be nothing at all, and replying to a Facebook question is a low bar, indeed. However, it's a bar the city routinely trips over. Thanks to HWC for answering the damn question.

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 7: What will the Board of Works do to rectify HWC's striping errors on the north side of Spring Street, apart from microwaving another round of sausage biscuits?

To reiterate, it appears that all "grid modernization" striping measurements were made from the south side of Spring, all the way from Vincennes to State. For whatever reason, whether by design or negligence on the part of City Hall's HWC Engineering concubine, if you park on the north side of the street, you get 6 to 8 inches less in terms of parking depth. Meanwhile, the half-a-foot greater depth is remarkably consistent on the south side.

Expect to see tires on curbs, but there's more. The cross hatching (buffer stripe scheme) is "aimed" the wrong way on the north side of Spring. The lines should be giving at least the subliminal signal that you should keep your west-moving car to the left of the buffer, but as painted, they imply that you should veer right.

The intersection of Spring and 10th literally is an accident waiting to happen, though we've already covered this bizarre bend.

Given narrower parking spaces on the north side of Spring, and with the prospect of wide vehicles like the one pictured above blithely encroaching by a foot and a half into the bicycle lane, cyclists face a far more confined route apart from the enhanced prospect of being "doored."

World class? My ass. It didn't have to be this way, did it?

As for the impression City Hall's timeless self-aggrandizing incomprehension leaves amid the "grid modernization" effort currently being implemented, here is the blog's junior editor, Jeff Gillenwater, whose Facebook comment excerpts from Friday characteristically summarize the situation.

It still blows me away that the single largest public works project in and around downtown New Albany in decades is happening in front of our house as I type and I (and everyone else) has to wait until they literally paint the lines on the street to know what it's going to be. Everyone in city government involved in the plan - administration, council, board of public works, planning department, engineering - should be ashamed of themselves ...

 ... Per my other post this morning, not voting for any of the minions currently involved. There's not a currently sitting council member or administrative sycophant who's deserving of public authority or money. I'll actively campaign against any of them as necessary, using their own record ...

 ... I was at the library earlier today and found the federally required environmental study for the street conversion-- probably a hundred pages or so in a big, thick binder. Know what wasn't included in all that (as legally mandated) publicly available information? A copy of the actual plan.

Autocentrism lives in New Gahania.

The proposal Jeff Speck submitted to New Albany included a fresh and significant biking infrastructure component that if implemented, would have made New Albany the undisputed regional leader.

At the time, NA Confidential warned you that Jeff Gahan would find a way to strip most of Speck's biking infrastructure ideas from the two-way plan, subverting the reversion into as lowest-common-denominator citywide paving project, diverting as much slush as possible into campaign finance coffers, declaring victory, and erecting another plaque to the usual suspects.

It's happening as I write, but of course there is little joy in being proved spot-on when so many opportunities are being squandered at so great a cost.

The Board of Public Works and Safety dozes tomorrow morning. Delusional excuses are to be expected, but the most important question: Will the feet of engineers and contractors be held to the fire, and these striping errors corrected?

Or, as usual in New Albany, do we condone incompetence? Don't look for admissions of responsibility, as these would imply City Hall conceding error, and that's something a garden variety flawless Dear Leader simply cannot do.

---

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 6: Jeff Speck tweets about NA's grid changes, and those missed bicycling opportunities.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 5: Egg on HWC Engineering's well-compensated face as it botches Spring Street's westbound bike buffer cross hatching.

The Green Mouse thanks an intrepid onlooker for pointing to something we've missed.

"Buffered bike lanes are conventional bicycle lanes paired with a designated buffer space separating the bicycle lane from the adjacent motor vehicle travel lane and/or parking lane."-- National Association of City Transportation Officials

The hash marks in the buffer are called cross hatching. As you can see from the two diagrams, cross hatching in the buffer should be "aimed" forward.

In what will be the new eastbound lane on Spring Street, the cross hatching is painted correctly.

But in the westbound lane, it's backwards.

The cross hatching is "aimed" the wrong way on the north side of Spring. The lines should be giving at least the subliminal signal that you should keep your west-moving car to the left of the buffer, but as painted, they imply that you should veer right.

Not only that, but as we observed previously, the parking spaces on the north side of Spring are consistently 6 to 8 inches less deep from curb to line, enhancing the prospect of cyclists being "doored."

Not only that, but this subliminal cue stands to make an already bad situation at Spring and 10th even worse.

I'm told HWC Engineering's top-dollar engineers drew up the cross hatching the wrong way, and the contractors did exactly as they were told.

Will the cross hatching error be fixed?

And if not, doesn't HWC owe taxpayers a refund?

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

Grid Control, Vol. 4: But this actually isn't a bus lane, is it?

While you're watching the TARC bus encroaching on the bicycle lane at the intersection of Spring and 10th ...

Grid Control, Vol. 1: You people drive so freaking horribly that someone's going to die at Spring and 10th.

 ... remember even if traffic speeds remain the larger issue, that yes, it's probably true the dividing pylons in the center are contributing toward traffic pulling right, into what currently remains the bike lane and is functioning as a bike lane now.

But there's something else going on, too. Glance at the direction of the painted hashmarks in the buffer area.

We'll be getting back to those in the next installment.

Previously:

Grid Control, Vol. 3: TARC's taking your curbside church parking, says City Hall.

Grid Control, Vol. 2: Southsiders get six more parking inches, but you gotta love those 10-foot traffic lanes on Spring.