Dangerous concrete alley construction

Recently the city built a new library branch near me and, as part of the construction, they resurfaced the adjacent alley with concrete. The concrete has a deep, narrow groove in the center running the entire length of the block:

It's the perfect size to catch a bicycle tire and cause a fall. Is this feature common? I haven't seen (or at least noticed) it before.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Newby on July 25, 2013 at 1:25pm

Just about every residential alley I have seen has a similar groove - likely there to direct water runoff to the street during storms.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 25, 2013 at 1:27pm

A concrete alley in the city? You must really live in the high rent district!

Seriously, it is for drainage. Seems like it should be pretty easy to avoid.

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Permalink Reply by Eli on July 25, 2013 at 1:28pm

Funny, the groove stops a few feet from the street, making it kind of poorly designed for drainage (hence all the debris in the picture).

Most of the alleys around here are asphalt (or remnants of asphalt), so I hadn't seen this before.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 25, 2013 at 1:32pm

I did not say it would work :-) We have remnants of asphalt, too. The little groove first fills in with dirt and then plants grow in it. It also does not go all the way to the street. I sometimes ride down the alley to get home and just make sure that I turn across it at enough of an angle that my wheel will not get caught, just like crossing railroad tracks or avoiding any other depression deep enough to grab a wheel.

Eli said:

Funny, the groove stops a few feet from the street, making it kind of poorly designed for drainage (hence all the debris in the picture).

Most of the alleys around here are asphalt (or remnants of asphalt), so I hadn't seen this before.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 25, 2013 at 1:40pm

I've seen a lot of this type of alley paving done in recent years - alleys that were previously unpaved or in very poor condition. We have some like this in our 'hood.

When I lived in Rogers Park, I sometimes needed to ride the alley that runs parallel to Sheridan Road (east of Sheridan), which has this type of paving, combined with short steep speed humps. I agree that this center channel is not very effective in many of our storms, and that it can be hazardous to cyclists, especially if you have skinny tires.

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Permalink Reply by PC on July 25, 2013 at 2:22pm

My alley has a groove like this cut into the asphalt and I use my handlebars to direct my tires to either one side of it or the other. I try not to complicate it with extraneous thought.

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Permalink Reply by David P. on July 25, 2013 at 2:32pm

Now if we could see more alleys that deal with drainage by using permeable paving!

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on July 25, 2013 at 3:02pm

Now that would be a good thing, since paving many of the previously unpaved alleys has increased flooding in many locations. I've heard about the increase in flooding from friends in a number of neighborhoods.

David P. said:

Now if we could see more alleys that deal with drainage by using permeable paving!

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Permalink Reply by David P. on July 25, 2013 at 3:35pm

Where are there unpaved alleys in the city?

Anne Alt said:

Now that would be a good thing, since paving many of the previously unpaved alleys has increased flooding in many locations. I've heard about the increase in flooding from friends in a number of neighborhoods.

David P. said:

Now if we could see more alleys that deal with drainage by using permeable paving!

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on July 25, 2013 at 4:12pm

I don't know if or where there are still unpaved alleys, but there were a good number of alleys "paved" with bricks up until not that long ago.

David P. said:

Where are there unpaved alleys in the city?

Anne Alt said:

Now that would be a good thing, since paving many of the previously unpaved alleys has increased flooding in many locations. I've heard about the increase in flooding from friends in a number of neighborhoods.

David P. said:

Now if we could see more alleys that deal with drainage by using permeable paving!