The Canyon City Commission, at its regular meeting Monday, held a discussion about what measures to take to deal with the failure of its brick streets, mostly around its historic areas.
At issue are the approximately 43 blocks or three miles of brick streets in the city, many of which date back to the 1920s. While the bricks have proven to be very durable overall, the area beneath them has deteriorated due to poor initial construction, poor drainage, and the increase in vehicle traffic.
Previous methods of repairing brick streets have been removing bricks from the area and restabilizing the base with either a refill of the bricks or an asphalt paving. Both processes used are costly, labor intensive and take a long time to do.
During the presentation by Chris Enriquez, the assistant director of public works for Canyon, it was suggested that areas of brick streets be categorized by historical significance and relationship to the downtown district master plan and historical significance. Other factors to be considered would be drainage, rideability, and the importance of the road.