For two days, Capitol Hill had another stretch of roadway appropriate for the Cobble Challenge. You can see the map below of Hill streets where the old cobbles and bricks from paving past are still the main surface.
This temporary exposure of the old bricks on 12th Ave at Pike was part of a two-day repaving project. There’s still some painting to be done, but the bricks are safely stored away and traffic is again passing above.
Roman roads – Paris streets – the art of the cobblestone.
Apparently, it is an excellent road bed….. and lasts for generations ….
Asphalt stinks, as in the nose.
I think our biking community would have a fit with cobblestones everywhere. I’m currently in Amsterdam, and I just rode about 3 blocks on cobblestones. My boys still are reeling from the jiggling!
Amsterdam has my most favorite biking roads in the world! Bring back the brick Seattle. As mentioned earlier, it lasts a hell of a long time and potholes really don’t exist with it. Brick streets are also easier to repair/upgrade. Just replace the messed up bricks. Again, another lesson from Amsterdam.
Arterial streets paved to appease the bicyclists, leave all the rest cobblestone. Would make the neighborhood more interesting, less likely to have pothole ridden side streets for decades, and slow down that damn traffic that thinks our side streets are bypass routes to be taken at 45mph+.
I like the look of cobblestone but the noise is obnoxious.
I was hoping to try this out riding back from the watching the Tour at Presse but it’s gone now!
Bricks as pavement are not cobbles. Cobblestones are round. These brick original pavements are all over Capitol Hill. There are also still streets that still have big grey bricks for pavement and have never had either concrete or asphalt on them. Bellevue E. south of Pike is just such a street.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cobblestone