Laurel Park eyes preservation for its brick-street surfaces

Wanting to ensure their neighborhood streets maintain their neighborhood feel, Laurel Park residents approved a plan to do just that.

The Neighborhood Scale Preservation Project has two main components.

First, it will maintain the brick surface on existing brick roads and plan for the restoration of the original surface on those streets that have asphalt covering historic bricks.

And, second, the plan will keep sidewalks uninterrupted throughout Laurel Park.

“One day, the neighborhood can be restored to what it was in the 1920s, when it was created,” said Suzy Hagglund, president of the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association.

When roadwork is performed on streets with an exposed brick surface, such as Rawls Avenue and Hawkins Court, the city must restore the road surface with similar bricks.

And when work done on streets uncovers brick below the asphalt, that brick must be removed and stored at a public-works yard. That brick will then be used in a future road project, when it becomes financially feasible to restore the brick surface.

To create a consistently linear appearance, the preservation project requires homeowners to leave sidewalks undisturbed. For example, if someone wants to build a paver driveway, those pavers cannot be placed where the sidewalk lies.

Hagglund said little things like this make Laurel Park a great neighborhood.

“On a scale of one to 10, I’d say it’s an 11,” she said.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected]