• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • 2023 Town Election
  • Events
  • About us
  • Natick Report
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Bye-bye Wellesley bricks

August 18, 2014 by Bob Brown 6 Comments

Wellesley crosswalk brick august 2014Wellesley has begun doing away with its brick crosswalks as well as bricks inlaid on sidewalks and around trees. The town is paving over the crosswalks and replacing the sidewalk bricks with cement or dirt. Work has been taking place during the day and for the crosswalks, at night.

While the bricks do add a classy touch, many of them have started to come loose and disintegrate (and some of the issues might involve a layer under the bricks that wouldn’t necessarily be obvious just looking at the crosswalks). Uneven bricks obviously can cause problems for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists.

We understand that the town has secured (state?) funding to do the project and has communicated with businesses to redesign sidewalks and tree plantings. The Public Works department has also issued noticed in recent weeks about the construction.

It does appear that select crosswalks might remain — a bunch still exist, for example, in Lower Falls even after work on Rte. 16 there.

We’ve sent an inquiry to the town to get more details. A reader wrote asking why the town is getting rid of brick crosswalks that seemingly are in good condition. We also wonder how long ago and how much the town invested in its brick and granite crosswalks, and what will become of the bricks that are removed. We’re also curious about what the replacement crosswalks will look like.
sidewalk bricks

sidewalk bricks

print

Filed Under: Construction

Comments

  1. Ben says

    August 18, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    Such a shame. The brick sidewalks were such a nice distinctive feature in our town.

    Reply
  2. Sharon says

    August 18, 2014 at 3:34 pm

    I sure hope those bricks are recycled and used for other projects rather than being tossed. Too bad – the bricks looked really nice and it seems it would be less costly to maintain than to replace everything.

    Reply
  3. Nathan says

    August 18, 2014 at 3:41 pm

    The brick edged sidewalks and brick crosswalks were added in 1995-96 when the majority of Rt. 16 was completely ripped up and repaved. That’s also when the lantern light posts were added. It was a huge, long project that was LONG overdue at the time. I was told by my parents that 16 hadn’t been paved before that since the 1960’s.

    Reply
  4. Dave says

    August 18, 2014 at 4:26 pm

    Brilliant Wellesley… let’s tear down the beautiful old houses and rip up the classy brick crosswalks. While we are at it, we should change the name of our town to Needham.

    Reply
  5. bridget says

    August 21, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    The bricks are also very practical: drivers were very aware as to exactly where the crosswalks were. There was a lot less of this nonsense of sliding over the crosswalk that looks exactly like the rest of the street.

    Reply
  6. Rebecca says

    August 21, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    I was with an elderly woman who fell on one of these sidewalks and gashed her head quite badly. They must also be a hazard for folks with disabilities. Sometimes looks should take a backseat to functionality.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
EXPLO, Wellesley
Wellesley Hills Junior Women's Club

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Letters to the editor on The Swellesley Report
  • Voting rights expert to give talk at Wellesley College
  • Wellesley business buzz: La Toscana's, Express Gourmet to serve alcohol; Where the town banks (not SVB!)
  • Wellesley Public Schools news: Union issues vote of no confidence as negotiations continue; DE&I director ditches 'interim' tag; 'Emotional Lives of Teens' program

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

Mar 21
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

World of Wellesley 2023 Community Book Read event

Mar 23
9:00 am - 10:30 pm

Select Board office hours

Mar 23
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Wellesley Neighbors information session

Mar 23
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Babson Arts presents “The Forgotten Kingdom”

Mar 25
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

The Lightning Thief, The Percy Jackson Musical

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley High parents pan standards-based grading, school leaders say improvements planned
  • Michali Lerner on Wellesley High School hosting standards-based grading discussion
  • Bob Brown on Wellesley Business Buzz: New version of E.A. Davis about to open; Faherty to nestle in next to Lululemon; Changing cast of characters in Lower Falls
  • Trudy Riley on Wellesley Business Buzz: New version of E.A. Davis about to open; Faherty to nestle in next to Lululemon; Changing cast of characters in Lower Falls
  • Carol Schwanhausser on Wellesley Black Lab pup becomes a local literary sensation

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (13)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (596)
  • Beyond Wellesley (53)
  • Books (380)
  • Business (1,568)
  • Camp (12)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (240)
  • Construction (301)
  • Dump (131)
  • Education (3,218)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (37)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (48)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (47)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (615)
    • Wellesley High School (1,008)
    • Wellesley Middle School (208)
  • Embracing diversity (97)
  • Entertainment (823)
  • Environment (778)
  • Fashion (145)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (174)
  • Food (360)
  • Fundraising (649)
  • Gardens (165)
  • Government (624)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (870)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (403)
  • Holidays (442)
  • Houses (164)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (869)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (89)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (584)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (282)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (657)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (786)
    • Crime (398)
  • Politics (560)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (7)
  • Real estate (348)
  • Religion (139)
  • Restaurants (345)
  • Safety (156)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (128)
  • Shopping (164)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,024)
    • Athlete of the Week (14)
  • STEM (109)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (26)
  • Transportation (242)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,245)
  • Volunteering (351)
  • Weather (180)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (282)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login