My neighborhood of 100 townhouses has 2 entrances and one goes by a large parking lot. There is/was a drain in the parking lot that allowed water to pass under our road, but now the drain is fully clogged and the water pours across the road. In the past it has frozen there also**.
But I'm wondering if any of this matters?
So what if there is a half inch of water or more flowing across the road? When it rains, lots of roads have water.
The path of the water is right at a 90 degree turn in this road/driveway where everyone has to (and does) slow down anyhow, because it's 90 degrees (and followed 65 feet later by another 80 degree turn).
The ice is not flat but full of ripples, because the water is flowing when it freezes. I think this is a little less slippery than flat ice.
Even if someone were to skid, he could skid into the curb, but after that is just an empty grassy area. If he gets 20 feet beyond there, there is a picket fence, nothing very expensive. There is never anyone in the yard behind the picket fence and almost never anyone in the area in front of it, especially when it is raining or icy out.
So is there a point to clearing the silt and mud from the drain so that the water flows under the road?
With all the silt and mud and excess black-top that this clog gets, won't it plug the 12 or 24" culvert soon anyhow?
**I know that we have a legal right, perhaps to require the property manager next door to keep the drain open, but if not that, at least to open the drain ourselves. We were buillt by the same developer and have a reciprocal contract about some stuff, although it doesn't mention the drain specifically.About 3 years ago I did so myself, at midnight. :) And under the silt/soil/mud, I found a 1/2 inch layer of some sort of soft "cement", so it looked like our neighbor plugged the drain on purpose. I'd dig it out again if there were a good reason. Last time I left a sign behind explaining what I had done.
Meirman
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