The first of two articles by Cliff Lewis
The stretch of Market Street adjacent to Central Market serves as one of Lancaster City’s most thriving pedestrian thoroughfares. But, today, with continual hazards posed by an uneven street surface and unpredictable vehicular traffic, the area is far from pedestrian friendly. But with new renovations on the horizon, this area may soon step closer to its cultural and commercial potential.
On Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays this block-long stretch of Market Street carries a steady stream of pedestrian shoppers from the surrounding city, the outlying county, and beyond. Stepping onto Market Street from West Grant, many of these pedestrians are often startled by the unexpected approach of vehicles passing through toward West Orange.
Countless others might trip on the cracked, uneven, and sometimes missing hexagonal brick pavers that have made up the street surface for the last 30 years.
“If a person falls, we immediately give them attention,” said market master Michael Ervin, “We only had one person who needed medical attention offsite.” In the two years that Ervin has served in his current role, he has been aware of five incidents of individuals falling or being hurt as a result of the eroding brickwork.
The streets immediately surrounding Central Market are property of the City of Lancaster.
According to City public works director Charlotte Katzenmoyer, “It’s happened that we’ll get questions about potential lawsuits” related to the area’s patchy brickwork. Fortunately for the City and its pedestrians, all of those bricks are slated to be replaced with the second phase of Central Market renovations, which will likely begin around February of 2011.
The materials that compose the current roadway do not meet heavy traffic standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Katzenmoyer said. In fact, those hexagonal pavers were actually recycled from demolition work in Lancaster Square in the 1970s, according to the public works director. “They’re a very inferior concrete brick,” Katzenmoyer asserted, “It’s not a true brick.”
The new bricks, Katzenmoyer said, will be installed up to ASTM standards for heavy vehicle traffic, and will be bonded to a concrete layer beneath.
According to John McGrann, owner of Pennylvania Stone Cement, the brick-related problems “that exist in those areas now are not likely to present themselves in a new brick installation.” Brick-laying for vehicular traffic today involves adhering the bricks to a concrete slab with a bed of asphalt-like material followed by a tar-like material, McGrann said.
“Impossible is not the right word,” McGrann observed, “But it’s highly unlikely that a brick would work itself loose”
And, while the new surface will meet current heavy traffic standards, the street is likely to endure less vehicle travel after the second phase of market renovations. Part of those streetscape enhancements will include proactive measures to divert traffic from this street—particularly during special events and potentially for all market days.
