Southern Indiana companies sue New Albany over road changes

Eight companies are suing New Albany, alleging that changes made last year to a major thoroughfare in the southern Indiana city have made the road narrow and unsafe.

The trucking companies, service companies and manufacturers say the modifications to East Main Street, which included efforts to beautify the road, should be considered a public nuisance and that it's no longer accessible to some emergency vehicles.

The civil complaint filed in Floyd Circuit Court names the city, Mayor Jeff Gahan, the county's commissioners and state and local officials in the city across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.

New Albany attorney Shane Gibson called the suit "absolutely ridiculous" and said it has little, if any, merit. He said the city held several public meetings and the plan was altered to include a better turning radius for commercial trucks.

Gibson said the plaintiffs are publicizing the suit, which was filed Sept. 22, now as a political maneuver coming shortly before Tuesday's elections.

Business owners were not consulted prior to the road's redesign, plaintiffs' attorney James Gary said, which has impaired the ability of the businesses' vehicles to travel the city's designated "heavy-haul" route.

Gary said his clients exhausted their options when asking the city for relief.

"Long before they reached out to lawyers, they reached out to their city officials," he said. "Only when they became frustrated did they reach out to lawyers."

In 2010, the state relinquished State Highway 111, now known as Main Street, to New Albany under an agreement that provided the city with state funds for maintaining the road. The suit also contends the city used those funds incorrectly to complete the redesign project.

City officials have defended the project and boasted about its effect of traffic after long-running complaints about cars speeding and large commercial trucks passing through downtown New Albany.

Last year's project installed new curbs, sidewalks and drainage features and added medians with trees and plants in an effort to beautify the city's historic district.