Nearly 1M Beloved Bricks Being Replaced in Downtown Flint

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Construction has started on Downtown Flint's historic brick roadway on Saginaw Street. This project is going to take a while. So, embrace patience and plan ahead.

When were bricks installed for the first time in Flint, MI?

• 1898 was the first-time people were able to drive a horse & carriage on something other than dirt. 38 years later, bricks were removed -- concrete poured -- bricks reinstalled. That was a modernization in 1936. Remember, cars were just becoming a thing. That type of investment was incredible for the time.

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• Fast forward to 2023 -- guess what's happening for the first time in 86.5 years? The bricks are being replaced.  Almost 1,000,000 bricks make up the historical portion we've all driven before. Many bricks will be saved and re-used.  While the rest will be sourced from companies that preserve historical road pavers to look uniform in appearance.

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Will anything change on Saginaw Street during construction in Downtown Flint?

• Say goodbye to potholes filled with tar in the middle of intersections. According to a piece by Kate Stockrahm with Flint Beat, intersections will NOT have bricks anymore.  That's where the most shifting and heaving happens as people turn their cars.  Now, those will be paved and stamped to look like bricks but hold up much better over time (and easier to reconstruct as needed).

• The section of Saginaw Street from Court Street north to 3rd Street is first up for replacement. The City of Flint will be managing street closures and communication, weekly. (See their Facebook page above.)

The project was supposed to have started last year but was postponed due to a water main replacement needing to happen simultaneously. Sidewalks and crosswalk upgrades will happen during the project, too. Be patient when it begins because they're replacing individual bricks, not dropping 20 tons of tar to flatten into a roadway. City Engineer Mark Adas shared those details with mlive.

Cheers to the City of Flint for making this happen. Can't wait to see what it looks like when finished.