If you’re planning on faking something, make sure you fake it well.
Though it may appear at first glance to be perfectly placed bricks inserted at the intersection of Centre Ave. and Railway St. (among other locations in town), they are in fact not bricks at all, but rather was is called coloured stamped asphalt made to look like bricks, which they certainly have accomplished.
Coloured stamped asphalt is a product that is used quite frequently, and according to Rick Deans, manager of infrastructure for the Town of Cochrane, the cost savings are significant.
“I’d say they’re upwards of 90 per cent cheaper, if not more,” said Deans.
Stamped asphalt is the process of asphalt being laid down, stamped with a particular design (like bricks), coloured and fortified to give the appearance of real hand-laid brick.
Deans said the long-term maintenance of the asphalt is also cheaper and less labour intensive than real bricks, which could be damaged by snow-plough blades and require time and road closures to repair.
“We were confident that the product could withstand the challenges of winter,” Deans said of the stamped asphalt.
If Robin Thicke can boast a 2013 hit ‘Blurred Lines,’ Cochrane could certainly counter with its ‘crooked lines.’
Pavement markings that were stenciled at the Centre Ave./First St. intersection will be redone, as the job that was initially completed left a lot to be desired.
“The installation of the line painting was not done to the satisfaction of the town,” Deans said, adding that the markings were painted by the contractor working on Centre Ave. and not by the town itself.
In addition to new pavement markings being put down, Deans said that sidewalk connectivity to the Quarry site via Railway St. is expected to be finished by the end of the construction season.
Once complete, a pedestrian sidewalk will stretch from 5th Ave. to Centre Ave.
Traffic lights will also be erected where Centre Ave. meets Highway 1A starting around the August long weekend, and anticipated to be fully functional by the end of the month.
Deans said he and Mayor Ivan Brooker would be meeting with Alberta Transportation to discuss any possible solutions to the traffic congestion Cochrane presently suffers from – particularly on Highway 22 and 1A – and they would also be engaging the development sector to hopefully be part of that solution by possibly entering into differential cost-sharing to fund highway upgrades.
