Carl Baehr
City Streets

Milwaukee Has Many Private Streets

You may recognize them by the brown signs. That is, if you can access the road.

By - Apr 14th, 2020 04:42 pm

You may recognize them by the brown signs. That is, if you can access the road. Back to the full article.

Photos - Page 3

Categories: City Streets, History

6 thoughts on “City Streets: Milwaukee Has Many Private Streets”

  1. B says:

    Interesting article – thanks for sharing! Do you know if private roads have to follow general street codes and the like? The sidewalk up Water Tower Rd. doesn’t always feel safe when cars and trucks are charging up the hill.

  2. Carl Baehr says:

    @B – I don’t know if there are rules for private roads but it would be nice if there were a wide, grassy parkway between the sidewalk and the street on Water Tower Rd.

  3. Colin Wilks says:

    Nice read Carl – just want to add another sidewalk with a street name in the Hillside Terrace neighborhood: West Essex Lane. I have no idea what inspired the name though.

    https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=19/43.04791/-87.92230

  4. Carl Baehr says:

    Colin,

    Thanks for your comment. Essex Lane has never been officially declared either a private street or an official street but it is, as you point out, not a street but a sidewalk. Another reader has mentioned Victory Lane (near N 27th Street and N. Teutonia Avenue) as another street that is a sidewalk. It has been officially recognized as a pedestrian way so it is not a private street. As a teacher from my past used to say, “Clear as mud?”

  5. Y2000 says:

    @B – Private roads are like driveways and don’t have to follow any special code. Water Tower Road is more of a public road but it does not lie within a public right of way like nearly all public roads do. The city still maintains it to normal road standards.The adjoining walk is standard and you find “full walks” in many areas of the city. East Locust Street has a similar full walk and is adjacent to the travel lane in a few locations.

  6. Carl Baehr says:

    Thank for the clarifications, Y2000.

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