First Street’s brick sidewalks — an aesthetic element of 1970s downtown redevelopment — are about to disappear.
“The new sidewalks will mirror those in front of the Andaz (hotel on First Street) — 2-foot-square cement slabs with brick inlay covering the utilities. It’s going to be safer for pedestrians and cheaper for the city to maintain,” Dave Perazzo, the city’s Parks, Trees and Facilities manager, told the Tree Advisory Commission on Wednesday night.
Perazzo said the brick sidewalks, which are now about 40 years old, are “worn, outdated or damaged” in places. “Many pieces are stained and crumbling,” he said.
Plans for new sidewalks and landscaping are tied to downtown’s two-way street conversion project. Converting portions of First and Second streets from one-way to two-way traffic was approved as part of the city’s 2012 Downtown Specific Plan for development. The construction and traffic signal work has already begun and is expected to finish by the end of May.
Along with the traffic change, the city created a landscaping plan for the adjacent streetscape. The city will remove 46 unhealthy trees and upgrade crosswalks to current federal safety standards. The landscaping work is scheduled to begin next week.
Tree commissioners, who offered suggestions as to which types of trees they would like to see replanted, also questioned the wisdom of replacing the brick sidewalks with concrete slabs.
“Who approved this design for the sidewalk?” asked Commissioner Seth Pare-Mayer. “Going from brick to concrete seems like a step back to me.”
After city staff explained that the decision came as part of the Downtown Specific Plan, Pare-Mayer lamented not being involved in that process. “The character of downtown is going to change drastically,” he said. “It’s going to feel more like Walnut Creek.”
But staff stressed that the bricks posed a safety threat and said the change will be cheaper for the city in the long-run.
“We will still have brick on the sidewalk, covering the utility lines,” said Perazzo. “That way, if we need to access utilities, we can just remove a few bricks instead of a large concrete slab. So we’ll retain a bit of the old look.”
The project will only replace 31 of the 46 removed trees since new street safety standards will not allow as many trees to be planted. The new trees — a mix of maple, oak and laurel species — should grow into a canopy over the sidewalk to shade pedestrians during the warm summer months.
“In the past, we haven’t been able to properly prune the trees because of the configuration of the road and the health of the trees,” said Perazzo. “This new construct will allow us to take better care of trees we have.”
Perazzo said many of the current trees have grown too big for their planter boxes in the cement, making many of them sickly and weak. The new boxes will be larger, allowing the trees to grow better.
In this initial phase of the streetscape plan, 23 shade trees will be planted along First Street, between Franklin and Main streets, with eight additional trees to be planted throughout the area. The cost of the new trees will be about $10,500 and comes from the city’s tree replacement fund. Eventually, more trees will be removed and replaced along Second Street.
The streetscape project will also update the sidewalk crossings to current Americans with Disabilities Act standards, moving the sidewalk ramps closer to the crosswalks. Previously, these non-compliant ramps were permitted, since the city hadn’t done any road work in the area. But once the two-way street project moved forward, it became a requirement to update the ramps.
The full street landscape plan also calls for about $80,000 worth of new benches to be installed in the area. Six to eight benches will be placed along First Street from Main to School Streets, and will be funded by the city’s Public Art Fund.
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