Grace Schneider

The Courier-Journal;

Jeff Speck said “I’ve never seen anything like that in America,” about a portion of Market Street

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan worries about the adverse impacts of increased traffic

Some business owners also urged Gahan to consider reconfiguring all streets

“Two-way is better, and pedestrians feel much safer on two-way streets,” Speck said

City planner and architectural designer Jeff Speck stood in the middle of Market Street in New Albany last Wednesday, making notes and puzzling over something he claims he’d never seen before in his travels to dozens of cities each year.

Two short blocks between his position at Hauss Square and State Street feature a grassy, shrub-filled median dividing Market Street — with both lanes of traffic running eastbound.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in America,” Speck said, because medians imply two-way traffic.

The routes drivers weave through New Albany’s downtown streets could change drastically if city leaders embrace the recommendations which Speck, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant, is expected to return in about five months.

Speck, the author of “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time,” argues that communities where people can safely walk and ride a bike aren’t just hip but essential to a healthy, sustainable, modern life.

American cities took a wrong turn in recent decades, he believes, in removing parallel parking lanes, and converting two-way streets to one-way to make way for motorists. “There’s a clear understanding (that) the more the city does to remove impediments to traffic” the more likely it is to be overrun by traffic, Speck said.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan and his staff have worried about the adverse impacts of increased traffic when new tolled Ohio River bridges in Clark County are expected to intensify the use of New Albany as a cut-through to the Sherman Minton Bridge.

That span will become the only bridge carrying an interstate without tolls.

Some business owners also urged Gahan and the city council to consider reconfiguring all streets because they think one-way streets encourage drivers to step on the gas, rather than park and shop. Not all agree.

Last month, the city hired Speck to conduct a $75,000 study, which includes work by transportation planners Nelson Nygaard of San Francisco. The firms are expect to offer preliminary proposals next month, and after consulting with Gahan’s administration on draft plans, to submit a final report by August.

The city already has launched a $2.4 million project to calm traffic and install medians along most of East Main Street, which Speck described as a good move.

From Wednesday to Friday, Speck did his on-site analysis phase, walking New Albany’s downtown streets, examining the streets’ surface between the curbs — turn lanes, width of lanes, traffic signal timing and an array of design features — to understand how the network influences driver behavior.

As he sipped espresso Thursday at Quill’s coffee on Market Street with Paul Moore, an engineer in Nygaard’s Atlanta office, Speck said the men were surprised while walking the streets to see no cyclists pedaling on a nice day.

He said he expects to recommend removing all one-way streets and converting them to two-way because “the data shows very clearly (one-way streets) hurt businesses.” Also, places where traffic isn’t whizzing by make pedestrians feel safer to stroll streets and sit outdoors at restaurants.

“The data is very clear. Two-way is better, and pedestrians feel much safer on two-way streets,” he said.

Also, by returning one-way roads to two-way, “you’re doubling the number of streets in each direction” and dispersing traffic through network more effectively, Speck said.

The city is expected to hold a public meeting sometime this summer to share preliminary findings from the study and take public comment. Officials have obtained a $2.5 million federal matching grant to implement plans they agree to incorporate.

Speck stressed that it’s may take some time before the changes take effect, but he doesn’t envision a large rebuilding or reconstruction. Even the median on Market would remain in the final plans — but with cars headed east and west.

Councilman John Gonder said much of the work on reviving downtown has already been done, but Speck’s plans should make a difference — particular in dealing with drivers bee-lining toward Interstate 64. “I think when we look back on them, it’s going to be very welcome.”

Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 812-949-4040. Follow her on Twitter @gesinfk.