eli5: Why didn’t we place manholes along sidewalks to not hinder V traffic?

Question

Not that I care about vehicular traffic. 🙂

In: 0

Answer 1

Because it’s easier to provide service to both sides of a street if the tunnels, pipes, etc. run down the middle of the street, with service lines branching off in both directions. Also, street is city/government land and easier to rip up and repair. Some underground tunnels may be larger than a sidewalk and would require ripping up people’s yards.