Road crews on Ballard Avenue will be a common site for the next few weeks as the city of Seattle makes repairs to fractured sidewalks along the historic shopping district. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has begun making the repairs along the 5400 block of Ballard Avenue Northwest from Northwest Market Street to 22nd Avenue Northwest.

Crews will work from approximately 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday on 30 foot stretches of the sidewalk, and parking will be restricted during those hours.

The repairs are at the request of the Ballard District Council, using city funds earmarked for neighborhood-requested infrastructure maintenance. The repairs along the avenue will cost approximately $90,000 and are required largely because the root systems of the street's trees, often oaks, are strong enough to buckle sidewalks as they grow.

"Trees and sidewalks have an uneasy relationship with each other," said Charles Bookman, SDOT's street maintenance manager.

Bookman said the maintenance should take four to six weeks, depending partly on the weather. He said street crews generally don't like to pour concrete during strong rains, because it can mar the appearance of the sidewalk.

Bookman said the replacement sidewalks - exposed aggregate surfaces - were approved by the Ballard Historic Landmark District Board, which is charged with overseeing aesthetic standards on Ballard Avenue from Northwest Market Street to Northwest Dock Place.

If you have plans to visit the street crews during repairs to get a piece of historic Ballard of your own, you'll be disappointed to know that the heritage of the sidewalk being excavated hails from the days of disco; the 1970s.