Brick fix OK’d for Kirkwood Avenue at $491K cost

The bricked sidewalks on Kirkwood Avenue in downtown Bloomington will not be replaced with herringbone-stamped reddish concrete.

At its regular Tuesday meeting, Bloomington’s board of public works awarded a $491,600 contract with E&B Paving to fix the trip hazards in the existing brickwork, in the stretch of Kirkwood between Indiana Avenue on the east and Walnut Street on the west.

That decision comes after the board about a year ago awarded a contract for about half that amount ($240,115) to Wise Building Solutions to replace the brick pavers with stamped concrete. The board subsequently revoked the contract by mutual agreement, when Wise said it couldn’t do the work.

At Tuesday’s meeting, public works director Adam Wason mentioned the previous decision to replace the brick, which was installed about a quarter century ago, around 1998–1999. Wason said, “We were going to move to more of a stamped concrete look with a herringbone design brick—make it look like real brick.”

He continued, “But then, as we thought about it more, those bricks are pretty iconic.” He called the approach of fixing the existing brickwork “a good project to maintain and continue forward, remove the trip hazards, and then, over time, with the community, really decide what we want to do with Kirkwood.” That’s an allusion to the fact that Kirkwood Avenue is recommended for conversion to a “shared street” in the city’s 2019 transportation plan.

Wason said he hopes that the work will last at least five, possibly 10 years.

E&B Paving was the sole bidder for the work. The funding for the project is being drawn from two sources: $406,503.00 (2207-20-200000-53990 parking meter fund) and $85,097.00 (4402-02-020000-54510 cumulative capital development fund)

Wason described the brick repair project as serving the whole corridor from Indiana to Walnut, removing all the trip hazards that currently exist. Wason described how the project includes replacement of the base under the brick to ensure the long-term stability of the surface. Wason described Kirkwood Avenue as one of the city’s most heavily used pedestrian corridors.

Wason said the project would also replenish the city’s inventory of replacement bricks.

The work will be done in 2026. According to the staff memo in the meeting information placet, the specific construction timelines and public notices will be coordinated to ensure residents and businesses are informed.

Other contracts awarded to E&B Paving at Tuesday’s meeting include $186,750 for the South Walnut Street paving project, $193,290 for the South Henderson Street paving project, and $311,575 for the downtown alley renovation project, which brings the total amount of work awarded at Tuesday’s meeting to E&B Paving to $1,183,215.

For the other three projects besides the brick work, E&B outbid Milestone Contractors for the work.