New Carlisle City Manager Randy Bridge told city council recently that the County Transportation Coordinating Committee would be conducting a traffic survey at two Main Street intersections in town, according to the New Carlisle News.

Bridge declined to expound on his plans for the intersections, but Main & Lake has some ideas about what could be in store for our busiest thoroughfare.

Roundabouts

The success of the roundabout at State Rt. 235 and Ohio 41, as well as Troy’s efficient traffic circle, may be influencing New Carlisle to add one (or two) of our own. A roundabout at the center of town would make traffic flow more smoothly, reducing accidents and congestion while improving commute times for the large number of city residents who work outside of New Carlisle.

It’s unclear whether a second roundabout at Main and Jefferson is in play, but Mr. Bridge did state that the plans he has include both intersections. In terms of traffic impact, the only thing that makes more sense than a roundabout on Main Street is TWO roundabouts on Main Street.

Dedicated Lanes for Different Vehicle Types

Some say New Carlisle lacks diversity. That might be true when it comes to the racial makeup of the city or political affiliations, but New Carlisle is as diverse as any city in America when it comes to different types of motor vehicles on the roads.

Hundreds of hulking, dually trucks with lift kits seemingly as tall as the grain elevator traverse the streets of New Carlisle daily. Right alongside them, you’ll see motorcycles, both of the extremely cool Harley Davidson variety and the extremely lame “crotch rocket” variety. Look again and you’ll see luxury sedans driving down Main on their way into town from Quail Ridge.

It would make sense for Mr. Bridge to explore adding lanes for each type of vehicle: a motorcycle lane, a truck lane, and a standard car lane. This would be much safer, as drivers would be more aware of their surroundings, and it could limit road repairs as only the giant trucks do a lot of damage to the roads. One lane could be shut down every six weeks or so to repair the damage caused by trucks and traffic would still be able to get through town.

Bring Back the East Side Speedway

As a general rule, people in town rarely come to unanimous agreement on anything. The exception, of course, is the fact that we need two Speedways to function as a city.

Perhaps the city manager is working with traffic surveyors to determine ways to open up space to make the vacant Speedway lot more easily accessible from each direction. This would make a lot of sense, as the city has suffered greatly since cutting back to a single Speedway at the Main and Lake intersection. Unable to get in and out of the crowded new Speedway, citizens are taking their business to surrounding municipalities. Reopening the “other” Speedway would keep that business here at home, where it belongs. Please do this, Mr. Bridge. We’re counting on you.

Historic Monuments

Great cities celebrate their heritage. New Carlisle needs to step it up in this area, and big time.

Some time ago, you, the readers of this website, voted on who you would like to see on a Mount Rushmore of New Carlisle. It was just a bit of fun, meant to celebrate some of the greats that have called New Carlisle home.

But what if it became more than that? What if Randy Bridge was looking at building a real New Carlisle Mount Rushmore smack in the middle of Main Street? This would be an awesome monument to our city, and it would make New Carlisle a tourist attraction for people all over the world, bringing in much needed revenue. You think the New Year’s Eve ball drop and the Heritage of Flight Festival are great now? Just wait until our very own Mount Rushmore serves as the backdrop for all of those great local events.

Remove Asphalt, Go Back to Dirt Roads

This seems almost too obvious, and I’m amazed more cities haven’t already done this.

Asphalt is expensive to maintain. Dirt was put here by God and there’s a virtually unlimited amount of it on Earth. Why go through all the trouble of constantly repaving streets if they are just going to crack and become ridden with chuckholes every few months? Dirt, meanwhile, is completely practical and easy to drive on. Plus, the only thing you need for upkeep is a shovel and bit of elbow grease.

(Oops, I probably just offended some people by talking about how doing hard work is good and right! Seems like we’ve forgotten that as a country.)

With time saved on road work, our workers can do something about the Madison school and make even more improvements to the pool. Win-win.

Still not convinced? Let me ask a simple question. Is New Carlisle better right now than it was 50 years ago? 60 years ago? 100 years ago? Yeah, I thought not. If we’re making America great again, why don’t we try to make New Carlisle great again, too? Let’s go back to the way it WAS, instead of being satisfied with the way it IS.