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Pedestrians in Frankfort's historic downtown area might notice something a little bit different about some of the crosswalks: They look like brick.

The village hired Gallagher Asphalt of Thornton to do a process known as "AFTER" Shows the Dramatic Difference!StreetPrint on five crosswalks in the downtown area. The crosswalks at the intersection of Kansas and Oak streets and one crosswalk at Kansas and White streets have undergone the process that gives the regular road surface the appearance of brick.

The village is testing out the $4,000 project to see how it holds up through the winter, and then may use StreetPrint throughout the downtown as an inexpensive way to beautify the streets, village administrator Jerry Ducay said.

The $4,000 covered the cost of the Oak and Kansas street imprint, and Gallagher threw in the one walk at Kansas and White for free.

"We are looking at doing it in other parts of town. The biggest question is its durability. It Intersection "BEFORE" StreetPrint Applicationhas had good results in residential use on driveways, but its commercial use on streets is fairly new," Ducay said. "We will let it sit over the winter and take all the usual abuse streets receive in the winter and then re-evaluate it in the spring.

"If it holds up, we may do it in various locations as a unique design aspect. Unique design usually means expensive, but this is not expensive. ... We are very interested in the way it looks; we just have some concerns about the durability. That is why we are doing the test pattern. The big question is, what is it going to look like in eight months?"

It may not be clear what the crosswalks will look like after the winter, but right now they have a brick appearance, having been colored a brick red with bedrock-colored borders.

Patrick Gallagher, vice president of sales and marketing at Gallagher Asphalt, said he expects the village to be happy with the durability. Gallagher said the longevity of the process depends on the traffic pattern of the roadway, and usually the StreetPrint only needs to be recoated every five years.

Similar StreetPrints have been done by Gallagher in New Lenox, Olympia Fields, South Holland and throughout the area on residential driveways, he said.

The entire process took about a day and a half to complete, Gallagher said.

To create the brick effect, Gallagher's crews first reheated the asphalt. They then laid down wire rope grids in the village's chosen offset brick pattern. Those grids then were imprinted into the asphalt using large vibrator plates. This was followed by a spray-on acrylic coating and then a second acrylic coating using a paint roller. Finally, a clear sealer was put on, he said.

"It is a very efficient process. We can come in hours, days, weeks, even years after the asphalt has been laid and add this," Gallagher said. "I think StreetPrint is the best choice for towns that want to beautify existing streets that are in good condition. It allows us to get in It's obvious to pedestrians where they should cross street.and out much faster and at far less cost than many of the other options."

Both men said the StreetPrint application is cheaper and appears to be better than options such as paver bricks.

"The problem with paver bricks is you can get weeds in the grout lines, and the settling of the bricks can create an uneven surface," Gallagher said.

If the village does chose to use StreetPrint throughout the downtown, another positive part of the process is that when the walkways need to be recoated, the village can opt to change the colors, he said. Currently, about eight different colors are available.

"We are always looking for cost-effective ways to beautify our village without making a big mess and causing disruptions to our residents. Considering the options available on the market, StreetPrint just made the most sense over all," Mayor Ray Rossi said.

Stephen Stanis may be reached at (708) 802-8813
or via e-mail at: sstanis@starnewspapers.com