Building a simple alley delivers a number of benefits.

Garage doors come off the front of the house and go in the back. Driveways go in the back and another parking space is now available at the curb in front of the house where the driveway used to be. Electric, gas, phone and cable TV services (“dry utilities”) go in the alley. That means there isn’t a transformer and a clutch of green/grey utility pedestals in the front yard.

Unfortunately, just because something is simple doesn’t make it easy. Some fire departments would like to reserve the possibility they could drive fire trucks down the alley. They would like the alley engineered to handle the movements of a 40 foot ladder truck.

No. Do not turn an alley into a formal Fire Apparatus Access Road. (The technical requirements for such a road are found in Appendix D of the fire code). You don’t need to over-build the alley. The street in front of the house is Fire Apparatus Access Road It already exists, so you don’t need to build a second one.

The fire hydrants are in the front. The fire can be fought from the front, just like firefighters do in places without alleys.

An alley may have to accommodate the local garbage truck. If your municipality will collect garbage in the alley, the turning radius of the garbage truck should guide the geometry of the alley pavement. Some places have trucks with a hydraulic loading arm on one side of the vehicle. That can require two trips through the alley. Instead of two trips, all the cans to be arranged by the residents on one side of the alley.

Stay tuned for more technical particulars on alleys. (photo by Sandy Sorlien)