Marching To The Flagpole––

Another Section Of Borough Sidewalk Completed

By Dottie Evans

There was no time for nostalgia last week as residents of numbers 16, 18, and 20 Main Street watched out their windows while workers dug up their old sidewalk and hauled away large hunks of asphalt and stone.

A foot-deep trench was dug along a straight path marked by strings and its base was tamped down, leveled and filled with crushed stone. Then a number of wire rods were laid across. Finally, cement was poured and the surface was washed and sealed.

The result was another 300-foot stretch of Bomanite sidewalk completed along the east side of Newtown’s historic Main Street, including a short spur extending up to the front porch steps of number 20 that was paid for by the owner.

Approved for the Historic District, the new Bomanite sidewalk is being funded by the borough. When it is joined with other sidewalk sections lately constructed by the Booth Library and Newtown Savings Bank, there will eventually be a continuous path up and down both sides of the street. Edmond Town Hall installed a Bomanite sidewalk several years ago.

Bomanite is an attractive combination of slate-colored concrete stamped with cement seams that resembles a more costly bluestone walkway. Despite its texture, the surface is smooth and safe for easy walking, and there should not be areas of buckling due to frost and thaw, as can happen with old concrete or slate slabs.

Borough warden Joan Crick commented Friday that the sidewalk project is going well, and neighbors along the route have been pleased with the results.

“The first part was laid on the west side of Main Street, and the second was laid from the Inn at Newtown down to the police station. Every year, the Board of Borough Burgesses decides to do a little more, but we can’t afford to do it all at once. It’s too expensive,” she added.

“We try to take care of the trees as we go, though some cutting of the roots may be necessary when excavating for the sidewalks. Sometimes we’ve been able to make a curve around an old tree,” she said.

Jay Maher, a burgess of the borough, is pleased because the ten-year project begun in 2001 and paid for by the borough, is a little ahead of schedule.

“We try to complete a section a year. We call it the March To The Flagpole, and I think we’re about two-thirds of the way there,” Mr Maher said Wednesday.

He said this last section was a continuation of the 450-foot section ending at Glover Avenue and completed last year. A 500-foot section had been completed in 2001 in front of the police department.

“The largest section left to do is the 1,000-foot section from number 20 up to the flagpole.”

Concerning any nostalgia at seeing the old sidewalks go, Mr Maher said so far, no one was complaining. “We haven’t even found any artifacts under there.”