Superior Street must be fully reconstructed in the next 5 years.  It is likely already 5 years past it's prime and the road bed is in such bad shape that our significant maintenance efforts (which are very expensive) are not holding up well.

At this point, I am looking at 2014 as the start of a multi-year reconstruction project.  In the next 6-9 months we will have a series of public meetings as we start a community-wide discussion about design and material options for this project.

Just a sample of the decisions that will need to be made:

1)  concrete vs. bricks
2)  street scape options
3)  on-street parking alignment
4)  opportunity to convert from steam to a more efficient hot-water system
5)  sidewalk width
etc

All of the decisions have tradeoffs - for example - wider sidewalks vs. on-street parking.  Cost of the bricks vs. maintaining the unique feel.  Public involvement and input is going to be key in making these design decisions.

So here's the rub on the ugly patches...  Do we commit to expensive brick repair projects when these streets will be torn up in two or three years?  I don't think that's a good use of limited resources.  Or do we use blacktop patches in the next few years while we prepare for the full reconstruct?

Of course we would all rather not have the blacktop on the bricks - it looks terrible.  But in the short term, it might be the most responsible approach.