The nice little circle of bricks on Union Street by McDonalds was a joke and everyone knew it.  Didn't they just rebuild it?  Just drove over there and wouldn't ya know it.  Bricks have come out!

Common sense says it was never going to last with the severe winter weather we have here but someone somewhere got some bucks selling the idea to the city.

Maybe the contractors and city should be investigated on why this project was even considered.  Ok stop your laughing we all know it will never happen but felt good typing it.  

hey,,,,it was probably a 'stimulus'....

it is a classic schenectady move

boat canals from San Antonio  - didnt work filled them in

road pavers from Universal  - dean and union and over by homedepot

next lets try taxes - that might work

I always thought that was a stamped pattern.

Weird, but typical Schenectady

Quoted from 147

I always thought that was a stamped pattern.

Weird, but typical Schenectady

I believe it's both.

The crosswalks on the street pavement of State St , up to Balltown Rd, are a stamped pattern (stamped in blacktop, and painted), and are poorly done at that.

At intersections like Fehr Ave, you can see where the pavement has already mushed together, obliterating the pattern, and wiping off that oh so realistic looking brick colored paint.
But hey, it was only meant to be a temporary stage prop (like smoke and mirrors) anyway, so what the heck.

The circle on Union St however, uses the same bricks that are used on the over-wide sidewalks of the rest of State St.

If I'm not mistaken, over $40,000 was already spent a couple of years ago, repairing that same exact location.

But hey, we needed to widen all those sidewalks, and narrow all those roads to accommodate all the tourists that clamor to have their pictures taken in front of Bethesda House, and The Twins Luxury Hotel and Resort.

I can appreciate that they needed some "shovel ready" projects to piss all  that stimulus money away on, but most of the city is a "shovel-ready" (if not bulldozer) project.
How's about those streets huh? Oh wait, we can't fix them because we're hoping NASA will move in, and they need a place where they can simulate the surface of the moon.

Hey, what happened to all my stanchions? You know, those things that look like a 3 foot tall chess board pawn, and cost $1800 a pop?

Gone? Where am I going to tie up my horse?
  

It isn't just Schenectady. The State seems hellbent on using these known tripping hazards in crosswalks on some of their projects too. I was reading an "I told you so" letter in the "Getting There" column in the TU. The woman had apparently spoken out against the use of some of those materials in a
planned State project but her concerns were dismissed. She had written in again to point out that the materials were indeed failing as she had predicted. The columnist contacted the government spokesperson whose response was something to the effect that the bricks or whatever it was are okay to use
because they perform well. Completely ignored the evidence the woman pointed out to the contrary. I wish I could remember when the column
appeared, it was about a month ago.
McDonald's snuck in the large arches they were forbidden by the city to have the first time around, when their property was dug up for that
beautification project or whatever it was. When they originally opened that location they were told no giant arches, it seems we used to have sign ordinances or something.

And will these repairs be even MORE expensive than traditional means?