City Workers to Remove Broken Brick Crosswalks

City workers will remove the brick crosswalks at three intersections along Cabrillo Boulevard because they were defective from the start and have since defied all efforts at repair. They will be replaced with regular asphalt crosswalks. According to city engineer Pat Kelly, these changes will take place where Castillo, Bath, and Chapala cross Cabrillo Boulevard, and the new crosswalks will be installed early in the new year.

The brick crosswalks are significantly more expensive to install, and these in particular have been dogged by such serious repair issues that they had to be entirely replaced shortly after their installation. Kelly said he remains mystified exactly what went wrong, but he chalks the problems up to a combination of bad materials and the environment. The brick crosswalks — installed in 2009 — visually alert oncoming drivers to look out for pedestrians. Many are now showing signs of age.

Kelly cautioned against “throwing the baby out with the bath water,” pointing out that other brick crosswalks along Cabrillo — like the one by the Los Banos del Mar Swimming Pool and the Ambassador Park — are holding up just fine.