NEW ALBANY — The city is moving into a conceptual development phase as it determines what course of action to take in response to planner Jeff Speck’s streets proposal.
Last week, the city of New Albany wrapped up the last of three public input meetings slated after Speck’s report was released in December. Among his suggestions, Speck calls for the conversion of one-way streets to two-way traffic, the removal and reduction of some traffic lanes and more on-street parking, primarily in the city’s downtown and midtown areas.
The proposals have been hailed by some as needed traffic calming measures, while others have claimed the changes would create gridlock and make it difficult for commercial trucks to navigate downtown.
Mayor Jeff Gahan’s administration has largely not committed to any of the Speck plan. New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety President Warren Nash announced Tuesday the city will continue to weigh the study and feedback from the public.
“The concept development phase will further analyze and evaluate the Speck proposal in terms of constituent concerns, including residential safety, truck traffic, downtown deliveries and other concerns expressed during the public listening sessions,” Nash said. “Three concepts for improving the downtown area grid that are practical, affordable and designed to respond to major concerns will be generated.”
Those concepts will consider short-term improvements as well as long-term alterations, he continued. Public feedback will be accepted through the board of works, but there will be no more input meetings.
The city has decided to scrap a portion of the Speck study that called for the establishment of a bicycle lane on State Street near Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services. Several business owners in the area spoke out against the proposal during the input sessions, as they said the bike lane would remove needed parking spots from State Street.
A timeline for the formation of the conceptual plans wasn’t announced.
“Our board realizes there are a lot of concerns by all of our downtown constituents, but we are confident that the upcoming work will minimize those concerns,” Nash said. “We believe in downtown New Albany, and we are committed to finding a way to make it a better place for everyone.”