The fight to have Athens’ iconic brick roads replaced with concrete continues as the bricks at the intersection of Court and East Union streets do not plan to change.
Since 2022, the Athens City Commission on Disabilities has voiced to the city the immediate need to replace the bricks on the heavily used pedestrian intersection with concrete to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. However, the commission received another answer it considers disappointing — the bricks will not leave yet.
“I've been trying to work with (the city) to get this done and nothing’s happened,” Davey McNelly, chair of the Commission on Disabilities, said. “I have a very, very low belief that it will (get done) … I'd love for these promises to be kept and they haven't been.”
McNelly uses a wheelchair, so going Uptown is difficult to navigate, especially when bricks are uneven or missing and intersection curbs are not ADA-compliant.
According to a previous report by The Post, some areas of the intersection are about 2 inches off the sidewalk while curb cuts are supposed to be one-fourth of an inch off. There should also be a continuous surface between one curb cut to the next, but the crushed, missing and misplaced bricks prevent that.
“The Athens City Commission on Disabilities just wants to be able to cross the street,” McNelly said. “I think it's something that a lot of wheelchair users have nightmares about. A lot of people can't even go Uptown at all. It prevents people, especially people who use manual wheelchairs, from coming to Athens.”
McNelly and the other members of the Commission on Disabilities knew there had to be a change but also considered Athens’ trademark red-colored bricks. In 2022, the Disabilities Commission met with the Historic Preservation Commission to find a solution. The Historic Preservation determined using stamped concrete, concrete which would be colored to resemble the bricks, would be the best choice.
During the Dec. 2, 2024 City Council meeting, Council Member Solveig Spjeldnes, D-1st Ward, introduced an ordinance for first reading to replace the ADA ramps at all four corners of the Court and Union Street intersections as well as replace the crosswalks. As the Council meeting concluded, members of the Commission on Disabilities thought their requests to replace the brick intersection with concrete would finally be met.
However, the Dec. 9, 2024 Council meeting – the second reading of the ordinance – changed those hopes. At the meeting, Spjeldnes said the bid to use stamped concrete would no longer happen because it became too expensive and could not be completed in the desired timeframe.
McNelly said he had no idea stamped concrete was no longer going to be used going into the Council meeting. Similarly, Tim Anderson, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission, said he and the rest of the commission were not informed the city was no longer using stamped concrete after they approved the proposition.
“It's just another sad day to not get this done as soon as possible,” McNelly said at the Council meeting.
Service-Safety Director Andy Stone said to not negatively affect businesses, the project had to be completed during Ohio University’s four-week winter break and wrap up by Monday. He said it would not be doable to complete the stamped concrete in the four-week timeframe and under freezing temperatures.
“We’re trying to do the next best thing, which is to do a couple ramps and then replace bad bricks,” Stone said.
The cost to replace the ramps and relevel the bricks is $46,100, Stone said. Originally, the Council appropriated $200,000 for the project, but the contractor was asking $225,000. He said the contractor told them the asking price later than expected, so even if the city spent that much, the project probably would not have been completed by Monday.
“If your solution is not 100% what any interest group wants, then you probably made the right call,” Stone said.
Stone said the rest of the intersection will be a part of the Uptown Improvement Project. The project is preparing to go out to bid, so there is no current project timeline. He said construction can be expected in Summer 2025 or 2026 because there is no other time to shut down those intersections for a long period.
After many years of broken promises, McNelly said the Commission on Disabilities is actively considering legal action. He said some members have met with civil rights lawyers, but he does not want to get to the point of needing to make extreme decisions.
“We want the city to do the right thing and get these issues done, and we're just kind of tired of all the excuses,” McNelly said. “We just want things to be accessible.”
