Bricks In Brookside May Have Been A Bad Idea

They were supposed to dress up the road.  Instead, they have messed up the road.  The City of Tulsa had brick crosswalks installed in Brookside.  Now, The News On 6's Steve Berg reports those bricks are sinking.

Some of the crosswalks in question are only about a year old.  But, here and there, in the majority of the new crosswalks in Brookside, there are deep depressions that are a little sad, according to Kate Webster.

"Ya know, it's like a big pothole, basically.  It makes the roads even bumpier when you go across, and some of them are missing the bricks," said Kate Webster.

Craig Gawlas swerved to avoid one and ran into trouble with an officer who pulled him over.

"He thought I was drunk driving, but I was just trying to avoid ruining my suspension on my truck," said Craig Gawlas.

The City of Tulsa's Paul Zachary says the bricks are on a bed of sand that should be packed tightly enough to stay in place.

"Somehow that sand is getting voided out from underneath, and once you start having that movement and that sand voiding out, they either pop out and get displaced and then you end up with divots," said Paul Zachary.

He says the contractor is still convinced the bricks can be fixed.  He says they will try a different material for the bed and pack them in tighter.

"We're going to give them a shot and make it work," said Paul Zachary with the City of Tulsa.

The good news is the city is switching to patterned concrete for the crosswalks instead of bricks.  It looks just like the real thing, without all the problems.

In case you were wondering, the contractor is footing the bill for the repairs.  So, it's not going to cost the city anything.