RECENT COMMENTS
What’s up with this alley?
I’ve been forwarded the above photo of the cobblestone alley that runs between Broad and Marshall Streets in the 2800 block of East Broad.
Emails circulating describe neighbors’ concerns about what is going on in the alley:
It contains the remnants of the large ravine that delayed –until after the Civil War– the extension of Broad St beyond North 27th. It appears that when the city recently repaired the sidewalk on Broad, it left too-steep a transition to the cobblestone alley. It is no longer passable. Our fear is that the city will reach for the easy solution by pouring asphalt over the cobblestone to raise the level of the alley.
Although in need of repair, this alley retains most of its original cobblestones and should be preserved, not paved over. It’s worth remembering how much more it cost the taxpayers to restore the alley between Grace & Franklin on 23rd St. because the cobbles had been covered with blacktop.
I’ve wiped out on those slick cobbles; however, when I walked by and saw the asphalt when it was completed, I could tell no regular sedan could make it up the grade w/o bottoming out. I’m no engineer, but maybe they can make the alley one way from Broad to Marshall to save it from a pave over.
It might be nice if they did another one of these:
http://www.rvah2o.org/green-infrastructure/
I know that back in the 1860s, Broad did not run straight through between 29th and 32nd and you had to go around a hill that had not been graded down yet. I can’t envision how this alley was a go-around of some sort since you could go down either Marshall or Clay.
The contractor is going to take out the ashpalt and build up the grade with more cobblestones. They have a lot of experience restoring cobblestone. It will be very nice when finished!