back to brick sidewalks

From a resident on the unit block of S Street NW:

We have had the brick sidewalks for a couple of years now and my opinion on brick sidewalks is that they are highly overrated. If any work has to be done on piping below ground the bricks are torn up and when they are re-laid they do not match. Weeds grow in between the bricks and that is OK for those homeowners that do maintenance but too many just let the weeds grow. Shoveling snow is harder because of the unevenness. The bricks crack and break and I don't know when or if they will be fixed. It would be better if they city could use a colored concrete (cement?) and stamp to look like bricks.

sidewalks being redone on the unit block of Randolph Place NW -- but/not/in/brick

The message below is from a household on the unit block of Randolph Place NW. (Moderator note: the pic to the right is a generic "brick sidewalk" pic.)

The unit block of Randolph Place NW is once again having its street and sidewalk torn up -- we were told for new gas lines. This will be at least the 2nd time in 5yrs. Each time, our trees are damaged and our sidewalks are never actually repaired. I contacted Mayor Fenty and Councilman Thomas to see if we could have our sidewalks improved. Councilman Thomas told me that there was no money available for brick sidewalks, but that I could attend a Dept of Transportation meeting on Feb. 25th. Mayor Fenty also directed me to contact his Dept of Transportation point-of-contact, Mr. Jeffrey Marootian ( jeffrey.marootian @ dc.gov ).

I spoke with Mr. Marootian this morning. He was very appreciative of our frustration. The sidewalks will be replaced with concrete. The city will take preventative action to make certain that our newly planted trees will not be damaged. He mentioned that he had spoken with several residents of the unit block of Randolph Place NW in the last few days, asking that brick sidewalks not be used. So, for those 40+ residents who signed a petition a while back requesting brick sidewalks....it looks like that will not be the case. Feel free to contact Mr. Marootian if you would like to press the point.