DID investigates street pavers at Palm and Main

At the Downtown Improvement District meeting July 9, board members discussed the use of thermoplastic pavers instead of brick pavers in repairing four crosswalks at Palm Avenue and Main Street. The current plan would close the intersection for 16 days and cost $57,000. There was interest in discovering whether the thermoplastic option would be both quicker and cheaper.

“I know the city has experimented with it in the past,” senior city planner Steve Stancel said regarding the thermoplastic pavers. “I don’t know if it was an earlier version, or if it’s been improved, but it generally does not stand up to the traffic.”

Rod Warner, council chairman at First Church, spoke to the board to request the crosswalk at North Pineapple Avenue and State Street be added to the scope of the project. The board said it had yet to receive cost estimates regarding that work, and it delayed any decision until that information was gathered. Board members also said that any improvements at that crosswalk would be considered its own project.

The City Commission will consider the improvements to the intersection at its July 15 meeting, and the thermoplastic option will be presented to the commission if information is gathered by then. Work on the project is slated to begin July 24.