UPDATE: After some test boring, the city says there is not brick under the asphalt on Success, South or East Park. The red color workers encountered was clay. City Communications Director Kevin Cook said “the roadways will be put back in the schedule to be repaved.” However, in the future, any other roads that are at least 75% brick can be restored.
Lakeland’s Public Works division was planning to resurface three roads in the Lake Morton neighborhood starting on Jan. 15. But the project has been postponed so residents can weigh in on whether Success Avenue, South Boulevard and East Park Street should be covered with fresh asphalt or returned to brick.
A news release issued last week said milling of the roads would begin Jan. 15 and last about three days. Then asphalt installation would start on Jan. 22, also taking about three days.
However, Communications Director Kevin Cook said the project has been paused because there are bricks underneath the existing asphalt.
“The impacted neighborhood gets to voice their opinion on whether or not they have asphalt or we break down to the brick and restore the bricks,” Cook said.
Restoring brick roads is a longer process than paving. If the residents choose it, the work will have to be scheduled and will take about two months.
In July, when the bricks on East Belvedere Street were restored between Lake Hollingsworth Drive and South Florida Avenue, Public Works Director Heath Frederick said the city allocates about $200,000 a year for brick restoration projects.
Other roads that have been restored include Ingraham Avenue, Buckingham Avenue, Park Street, East Belmar Street, Nevada Road and Easton Drive.
Brick roads are generally popular with Lakelanders and they have many advantages, according to Frederick.
“They help with speed control. A lot of times that’s why residents will request them,” he said. “A lot of residents like the historical look they bring back to the road. And they help with stormwater. They are a lot more porous; the water dissipates faster.”
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Go with Brick, Asphalt stinks and our neighborhood is hotter. Plus it might be that new Asphalt with radioactive phosphogypsum in it.
So is there a place to see what the final decision was on these?
We updated the article a week later when the city revealed that, unfortunately, there wasn’t brick — or at least not enough brick — under the roads. They were put back on the schedule for standard repaving.