Open Sesame: Yes, the Big Dig at 5th and Elm has been repaved and will open shortly.

Actually, 5th Street appears to be open now. Looking west (above) and north (below, with the Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats casting a long TIF shadow).

Now east, toward the site of the Great Barbershop Siege of 2016, and then ...

 ... a longer view from -- HEY WAIT, GET OUT OF THE WAY.

This is more placid.

Perfect spot for two-way traffic, wouldn't you say?

Here are a few corresponding views from various stages of what proved to be a two-and-a-half-month project. Let's hope the perennial subterranean problems at this intersection have been resolved for good.

But what about the subway station? Hope spring eternal.

ASK THE BORED: The Big Dig at 5th & Elm enters its 9th Big Week, with 33 more Big Days to come.

ASK THE BORED: The Big Dig at 5th & Elm enters its 9th Big Week, with 33 more Big Days to come.

The minutes of BOW's August 16 meeting tell the tale:

"We are still looking at about another 40 days," placing the finishing date for this project (originally estimated to take six days) somewhere around September 25.

That poor, poor barber shop ...

Memories ... of the Way We Were.

The July 19 BOW: All Chloe Allen's family has is Keith Henderson's word for it. No wonder they seek more information.

At this morning's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, I asked again about the investigation of the Chloe Allen case.

From roadway bomb craters to pedestrian death investigations: This morning's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting -- with the undermanned newspaper AWOL.

Interestingly, what Police Chief Todd Bailey told me this morning differs from what I was told last week by an investigator in the prosecutor's office. I was told last week that the CART (accident reconstruction) file was closed, and Keith Henderson had determined no charges were merited against the driver.

However, Bailey said that the investigation remains open because state toxicology lab reports have yet to be returned.

This revelation is unlikely to change anything, but I'll stay on it. Might as well; I can't dance.

In my other comments, I relayed the concern of the 3rd district resident about the intersection of Elm and 13th, as explained in this morning's post.

ASK THE BORED: "People go WAY too fast and even turn up the wrong way on Elm. There needs to be a 4-way stop at this intersection before someone gets killed."

My thoughts were noted, and are unlikely to change anything, but (see above).

Other highlights from the BOW of July 19:

His Irvness
Irv Stumler was on hand to support efforts to clean up a hoarder's derelict property on Hausfeldt Lane, an ongoing process that board chairman Nash noted was hung up in court. Stumler encouraged the city to petition the court for permission to send in the backhoes.

Jeff Eastridge
A first-hand account of the Big Dig at 5th & Elm was provided. Amid a repair effort that has resulted in the pumping out of water 24-hours-a-day, five separate open stormwater lines have been found, and two water line leaks repaired.

These stormwater lines had slots cut into them, under the apparent theory that water would travel down into them, but when the lines were full, the water came up instead, loosening sand and dirt, and flushing them back into the line to be carried off.

Pilings have been driven onto bedrock. As soon as the water company finishes cleaning up its mess, the hole can be filled. MAYBE next week.

Upper Spring Street Road Diet 
Wes Christmas said all is going according to schedule, and the target date for completion is late September or the very beginning of October. Once finished, bicyclists will be able to enter this section of Spring from Beharrell, travel to Vincennes, then have absolutely no place to go.

The Jeffersonville Chain Newspaper
It sent a steno this morning. Film at 6. Yawn.

From roadway bomb craters to pedestrian death investigations: This morning's Board of Public Works and Safety meeting -- with the undermanned newspaper AWOL.

Earlier today, a toe (gout-free since 1999) was dipped cautiously into the saucer.

ASK THE BORED: Coffee break's over, so it's back on our heads.

The BOW meeting of July 12 is history, so let's begin with an update on a topic no one in city government seems eager to discuss.

Is the investigation of Chloe Allen's crosswalk death still ongoing?

Police chief Todd Bailey answered my question about this investigation with gritted teeth (paraphrasing):

The investigation is closed, and the reason we haven't seen it in the newspaper is that newspapers usually don't report on investigations that are closed without charges being filed. 

So, this means there'll be no charges in the pedestrian's death at the hands of a driver?

The investigation was conducted by the Combined Accident Reconstruction Team (CART) at the Floyd County Prosecutor's office, so if one really must know, he'll have to contact them.

Thanks much, Todd. That's remarkably unhelpful but yes, I'll give them a call. I'm sure you've already let them know it's coming.

What was that, Greg Phipps?

ON THE AVENUES: On the crass exploitation and politicization of tragedy.

Point rejected. Now go peddle your own hyper-politicized resolutions. Next, this week's destruction/construction updates.

5th and Elm speed crater: Have we reached China yet?

As of July 12, it is expected to take two more weeks to repair the subterranean problems at 5th & Elm, and to replace the roadway.

Mickey Thompson explained that once digging started, the scope of these problems considerably widened. There is an old storm sewer never properly capped, and damage to the newer (operative) storm sewer. The sanitary sewer also is undergoing work. Pilings have been placed, and these required time-consuming neighborhood monitoring.

Two more weeks puts us at July 26, or thereabouts.

Chronicles of New Gahania, political cowardice edition: Beharrell to Vincennes, or the choke valve from the choke artist.

Monday (July 1) was the first day for the westbound lane closure between Beharell and Vincennes. City officials insisted that the day went relatively well, but the traffic signal at Spring & Silver has been adjusted.

"If the door is open it isn't theft ... you can't return to where you've never left."

The Bono Road project continues. Most utility work is completed. Phase one, or Green Valley to Cottom, is scheduled for completion in November. Phase two, Cottom to Graybrook, has not been put up for bids, and it will be conducted at a time yet to be divulged.

Is it public art? Is it a street lamp stump? Has the street department even noticed?

During my "communications from the public" segment, I offered an observation to the bored: Invariably, the first thing coming from their mouths when asked to rule on a construction project is how vehicular traffic will be affected. Almost never do they ask about the effect on folks walking, riding bicycles (or on handicapped travelers).

Often the concessions made to automobiles result in inconvenience for sidewalk users, so I asked that there be a protocol for considering such matters, and that sidewalk users be taken into consideration. It doesn't seem like much to ask of a group charged with safety.

I made them aware of the trip hazard/street lamp stump on the southeast corner of Main & W. 1st, and also reminded them that similar hazards still remain unaddressed on the northeast and southeast corners of 10th & Elm.

As noted this morning, free admission to BOW's weekly indoor tent revival inevitably comes accompanied by a sexy floor show.

Irv Stumler set to lecture BOW about property safety on the 200 block of East Main Street. He is not expected to address street safety amid monster trucks.

Yes, Irv took issue with Bill Allen's dilapidated dream houses on Main Street, but this is another whole article.

I'll get to it as soon as I can.

A Band-Aid will do, so a relieved Bob Caesar takes down his GoFundMe page for Spring Street Hill.

"Wait," said Councilman Caesar. "I've got a whole garage filled with paving stones, and we can use them to patch the hole until the GoFundMe thing takes off."

Below (courtesy of Al Knable) are views of the before and after.

Meanwhile ...

Mother Nature called. Wants her planning and engineering credentials back. Says to shove your campaign kickbacks.

Without cooking classes or reality TV shows to confuse it, the newspaper actually provides coverage.

Sinkhole closes Spring Street Hill in New Albany; Repair may be completed by end of week, by Chris Morris (Clark County Jailhouse Compendium)

NEW ALBANY — Dr. Al Knable admits being a “pretty observant guy,” which may have helped prevent a car accident or injury along a section of Spring Street Hill on Sunday.

Knable, an At-large member of the New Albany City Council, said he had been watching a section of the hill for about two weeks. He said he noticed it Sunday morning, and two hours later said it had opened up “a little more.” He called the New Albany Street Department Director Mickey Thompson who Knable praised for his prompt attention to the issue. The road was quickly closed.

The sinkhole turned out to eventually be four feet wide by six foot deep, Knable said.

Knable said “it’s an unspoken fear” for the people who travel the road regularly to be observant and to look out for possible shifts or sinkhole. The road was closed for several weeks a few years ago due to a cave in, but that was in a different section, Knable said.

Engineers inspected the area and determined that there was a small crack in the culvert running underneath the road, according to a release from Mike Hall with the mayor’s office. Water began to filter through the crack, pulling the soil with it. Eventually, this caused the asphalt to recede and give out, causing a hole in the road and forcing the road to be closed to traffic.

“After conversations and recommendations from our engineering consultants, a polymer solution will be used to fill the crack in the culvert, which will prevent future leaks,” said Joe Ham, stormwater coordinator, in the release.

This repair is expected to be finished by the end of the week, if not sooner.

Wormholes, rabbit holes, ratholes and now this big-ass Caesar Hole on Spring Street Hill.

Is there money left in the Sinking Fund? (not my joke; thanks to my gag writer)

It's déjà vu all over again. At around 4:00 p.m.on Sunday, at-large councilman Al Knable and family began posting photos on social media.

PLEASE SHARE!

Spring Street Hill, New Albany CLOSED until further notice...

THANKS to Mickey Thompson and NAPD for a quick response on a busy Memorial Day.

Pictures below document what the street looked like around noon today when I called the Street Department. Four hours later we have what you see below.

Initial assessment is likely to take a few days. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime please STAY AWAY as this is still UNSTABLE and should be considered DANGEROUS.

On June 29, 2005 at a special Board of Works session held at night at the Calumet Club (small wonder James Garner got beat), someone in the crowd asked a question and received an answer, paraphrased.

Q. Will the road up Spring Street hill be reopened?
A. Yes, if we can find the money necessary to make repairs the right way.

By 2009, the "right way" had been found, and the usual suspects at Jacobi Toombs and Lanz designed repairs to the tune of $1.3 million.

In April of 2011, Spring Street Hill was closed again after it was revealed that no one involved with the "right" 2009 repairs had considered the possibility it might rain. A year and $660,000 later, Bob Caesar declared a "state of copacetic," which abruptly ended earlier today.

Following (in reverse order) are NAC links to those classic 2012 municipal deliberations. What happens next is anyone's guess, but if you're keeping track: To date, that's $2 million for less than a half-mile of Spring Street Hill, and around $3 million for less than a mile of Main Street beautification.

Somewhere right now, Dan Coffey is salivating, but he (and we) must wait until next Monday.

Hey, kids -- BOOMTOWN!

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June 3, 2012

Nash asks: If those who benefit must pay for it, then why not toll Spring Street hill?

NASH: A little bit of everything, by Matt Nash

... A few weeks ago the New Albany City Council failed to pass a non-binding resolution condemning the use of tolls to fund the Ohio River Bridges project. After being the first municipal government to speak out against tolls a couple of years ago, this time the vote went the other way. A couple of the councilmen spoke out about how much our community needed both of these bridges and the only fair way to pay for it is with tolls.

The resolution was in response to a study that shows the downtown bridge will have a negative impact on the lives of Hoosiers and the people of our state will end up paying a disproportionate amount of the cost of these bridges.

Interestingly the same city council voted to spend $660,000 of taxpayer money to fix the problems with Spring Street Hill. This after spending $1.3 million on the road just a few years ago. The road allows better access to a select few in the neighborhood of Silver Hills. Had the pro-toll councilman used the same logic as the “Bridges Authority” that those who benefit should be the ones who pay for the project, they could have just made Spring Street Hill a toll road too.

---

May 23, 2012

Bob Caesar's commute is about to get easier.

... Councilman Bob Caesar, who sponsored the council measure and is a Silver Hills resident, said the reopening of Spring Street Hill road will be a “big deal” for the community.

“We just wanted to make sure this was done once and done right,” he said ...

... City officials firmly stated their intentions to install and enforce vehicle weight limits for Spring Street Hill Road. “I’d even recommend a camera on that hill to keep heavy trucks off of the hill,” Caesar said.

quotes from the paper (Suddeath)

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May 18, 2012 (Gillenwater)

Separate but equal but not really (wink, wink).

The City of New Albany has recently spent an amount on Spring Street Hill Road nearly double the state's total $1.2 million annual TARC outlay to fund transit in the whole of Southern Indiana.

That poorly located, two-fifths mile of engineering accident serving a very limited but very specific population was deemed a high priority necessity for all the goofy reasons Bob "adverse and disproportionate are good, right?" Caesar and a handful of well placed others could muster.

But cut multiple bus routes on which other parts of the city depend for work, groceries, trips to the doctor, etc.? Shucks and shrugs all around. Sorry about your luck.

Given that we're about to spend another million or so on Governor's Balls and the like patting ourselves on the back for 200 years of ongoing something or other, isn't it about time we address the blatant, class-based attitudes that fuel our politics as much now as they did when Washington C. DePauw owned our government?

---

March 7, 2012

On engineering and the devaluation of 1,000-year weather events.

At Monday's city council meeting, as the discussion turned to how many dollars per inch it will require to restore Spring Street Hill to viability as Councilman Bob Caesar's fastest route home, engineers became weathermen.

New Albany council wants review of Spring Street Hill work; $540,000 project receives initial approval, but second opinion requested, by Daniel Suddeath (News, Tribune and Pop Up Generator)

The city hoped to receive aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, as Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz President Jorge Lanz said almost 9 inches of rain fell on Silver Hills between April 19 and May 2 of 2011.

But FEMA denied the city’s request earlier this month, though administration officials declared Monday they will appeal the decision within 60 days. Lanz said the “historic” problems associated with the road were part of FEMA’s decision to deny the request, though he said much their reasoning for the ruling was still “cloudy” ...

... Lanz said crews had to dig about 30 feet into the ground before the ravine was discovered, and he added that kind of testing is unusual for such a project.

The drainage installed met city standards, but it’s not feasible to design a system capable of dealing with a 1,000 year storm like April’s rain event was, he continued.

“For this kind of structure, I don’t know what else we could have done,” Lanz said.

If umbrellas were necessary, were they to protect us from rain, or exaggerations? A blog reader delved into the archives:

Indiana Precipitation Records

Driest location ranked by lowest annual average precipitation: English, southern Indiana, 49.72"

Wettest location ranked by highest annual average precipitation: Monroeville, northeast Indiana, 33.74"

Snowiest location ranked by highest annual average snowfall: South Bend, northern Indiana, 76.6"

State precipitation maximum for 24 hours - Princeton, southwest Indiana, 8/6/1905, 10.50"

State precipitation maximum for 1 year - Marengo, southern Indiana, 1890, 97.38"

State snow maximum for 24 hours - Seymour, south-central Indiana, 12/22-23/2004, 29.0"

State snow maximum for 1 season - South Bend, northern Indiana, 1977-1978, 172.0"

It's hard to believe that nine inches of rain falling in a 13 day period qualifies as a "1,000 year storm" - especially when you consider 10.5 inches fell in 24 hours in 1905 in Princeton, Indiana.

Indeed, and another friend asks: "Didn't this much rain fall in two days back in 1997?" In the end, it probably doesn't matter. Caesar wants his handy commute fixed -- and that's not a request.

... Caesar, who is sponsoring the measure, agreed that a second opinion is “imperative” but doesn’t believe it will greatly delay the project to obtain a review.

“I think this could happen in a very short amount of time,” he said.

-----------------

March 2, 2012 (Gillenwater)

Head for the hill: Caesar leading another self-serving charge.

Despite Bob Caesar's silly claims to the contrary, Spring Street Hill Road is not a major city artery. It's a low volume, local access road serving a very limited number of residents who have not one but two alternate routes for entering and exiting their relatively isolated neighborhood(s).

The entire path in question is approximately 1,900 feet long. If Caesar's latest proposition receives council approval, the imprudently championed and poorly executed 2/5 of a mile update will have cost citizens $1,000 per foot, assuming the same engineers who didn't sufficiently account for the watershed last time get it right this time.

But Bob lives up there, so nothing's more important.

New Albany’s Spring Street Hill fix to be heard, by Daniel Suddeath

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council will be asked Monday to appropriate $540,000 for Spring Street Hill Road repairs, which if approved, would bring the total amount of money spent on stabilizing the street to nearly $1.9 million.

The road was again closed by the city in May after a section of the street shifted following heavy rains last spring. In 2009, Spring Street Hill was reopened after being shutdown for several years due to erosion problems.

More than $1.3 million in tax-increment financing, or TIF, proceeds were poured into the project three years ago, as engineers and officials believed the road that connects the city’s West End to Silver Hills was finally stable.

Watch as this bumbling sidewalk superintendent oversees Main Street pavement repairs.

Move along -- nothing to see here. Just mass-scale repairs of shoddy pavement. Scram, kid. Get lost, already.

Wait, that guy yapping into his cell phone and gesticulating... he looks like ... could it be ... I think it's John "Rasputin of Re-dishevelment" Rosenbarger. He doesn't seem to be paying much attention to that big roller thingy. Careful ... your Main Street mashup was supposed to make the street safer for pedestrians.

Just another few feet forward, and there it is ... watch it!

Thanks to M for the tip.

I don't even swim, so brother, can you spare a dime to fix this neglected school crosswalk?

Yesterday, as the Bored of Works was meeting, a reader wrote:

"Called street department this morning about red flashing lights, out of order at East 10th and Oak Street by S. Ellen Jones school. Been out over a year. No money to fix it, they said."

By the way, city government's "Re-Elect the Mayor" social media feed informs us that the $9 million aquatic center build-out is going swimmingly.

Fundamentally better?

Like I always say: Nationalize the railroads.

Do you think so, Gary? It's only been that way for the past decade.

No north Y: New Albany intersection closure needed for railroad repairs, by Daniel Suddeath (Alabama Pop-Up Multiplier)

NEW ALBANY — The intersection known as the North Y at Eighth Street and Grant Line Road in New Albany will be closed for at least two days next week so that CSX Railroad Corp. can replace its tracks in the area.

“I’ve inspected [and] they are in bad shape and in need of repairs,” said CSX branch manager Gary Reynolds of the railroad tracks Tuesday during a New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.