Milwaukee installing 'green' alleys this year, here's how they work

MILWAUKEE - The city of Milwaukee owns and maintains more than 400 miles worth of alleys.

The city's Department of Public Works estimates about eight alleys might get replaced each year, depending on size. On Wednesday, a committee approved replacing nine – turning them into "green" alleys. But what makes them green is what you can't see.

Between Homan and Otjen in Bay View, people like Tony Orlando said the alley has been terrible for years.

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"It's pothole, after pothole, after pothole," he said. "In fact, when we were first looking at the house, it was one of the first things we noticed."

Now, the alley is one of nine that is set to turn green this coming year. Each year, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District sets aside money for green projects to reduce the amount of water that runs off into storm sewers, holding it where it falls, to reach zero overflows by 2035.

Tony Orlando's alley in Bay View

"It does not look green, but I can assure you that it is," said Bre Plier, MMSD director of integrated watershed management. "With having these bricks, you can see they have these teeth that give them space. That space allows the water to soak into the stone underbase."

Plier said water will slowly filter through that stone and release into the storm sewer, making the alleys "green."

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It is estimated that one green alley can hold around 75,000 gallons of water in one rainstorm. To give you some context, the Wilson Park Pool holds around 350,000 gallons of water.

In Milwaukee, the city and property owners share the cost of replacing basic alleys, but to turn them green, Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman said MMSD pays the difference. In this case, $1.2 million will be spent on the nine green alley projects.

MMSD's Bre Plier explains green alley

"Some of the roads there are way better than my alleyway," said Orlando, who just returned from Rwanda. "Even wanting to put a basketball hoop back there doesn't make any sense."

Last year, water filled potholes in the alley behind South Honey Creek Drive. The concrete crumbled, and the potholes expanded. One woman estimated some of the potholes were three to four inches deep, with the biggest pothole about three feet by four feet wide.