SHOREWOOD - If the third time is indeed the charm, that still might not be much solace for taxpayers.
The orange cones and construction crews are back at it on Capitol Drive, repairing the maligned brick crosswalks that lay across seven intersections.
"The bricks have really never settled," Leeann Butschlick, Shorewood Director of Public Works, explained to TODAY'S TMJ4. "It was an annoyance certainly for motorists, but a liability and concern for pedestrian traffic."
Shorewood installed the brick crosswalks in 2010 as part of the $10 million Capitol Drive Improvement Project. That's the same project that saw the construction of the Oak Leaf Trail bridge. Butschlick said the bricks were chosen to better distinguish the crosswalk from the street.
The problem, however, is that the bricks have never properly settled, and now after years of studies and repairs, the Shorewood Village Board is choosing to replace the bricks with concrete at a cost of $200,000 (earlier repairs were paid for by the contractor).
The seven intersections that will get the new crosswalks are all along Capitol Drive: N. Wilson Dr., N. Morris Blvd., E. Newhall St., N. Oakland Ave., N. Murray Ave, N. Maryland Ave. and N. Downer Ave.
