Road project would change the Court Street/Main Street intersection

Court Street in Decorah was paved with bricks in 1906.  The Decorah Historic Preservation Commission tried several years ago to have the Court Street paving included on the National Register of Historic Places, but learned that paving is not eligible for nomination on its own.

Since then, a dip in the pavement has developed at the Court Street/Main Street intersection.  City officials want to repair the intersection while maintaining the historic look of the brick pavers.

A plan approved Monday night by the city's Streets Committee calls for spending an estimated $182,000 to redo the intersection as part of a larger Court Street project.  The intersection would be paved with concrete, but there would be bricks reused for crosswalk accents.  City Administrator Chad Bird calls the plan "a nice compromise" between wanting to improve the intersection and wanting to keep a historic feel.

The total Court Street project would also make sure sidewalks on the Courthouse side of the street are ADA compliant and would install a 4-foot wide concrete gutter on the east side of Court Street.