During downpour, significant ponding on street west of downtown at least as far west as Eberwhite. Cause: most storm drains clogged with leaves.
W. Liberty Street
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Happens in front of my house all the time. The city used to come clear the clogged grate.
Obviously, I can clear the grate as well, but the problem occurred after the new grate was installed.
Re: [1] What do you figure it was about the old grate design that prevented clogging?
A rake does wonders to clean the grate, and leaves can be shoveled with a perfectly ordinary snow shovel.
But I don’t think a system that relies on homeowners, etc. to keep storm drains clean is very reliable. We lost the city’s program to clear street leaves (which consist not only of leaves that people rake onto streets, but those that fall there naturally). I did see some street cleaners go around a week or so ago before much leaf fall occurred.
One of my neighbors solved their leaf problem by blowing all of their leaves onto the city-owned median. Civic consciousness at work.
What is it about the new grate design?
The new grate has wavy bars and the orientation of the bars is rotated 90 degrees from the old ones.
I suspect the old grate allowed more debris – sticks, leaves, etc. go into the storm sewer. But, it isn’t clear that the responsibility for street cleaning should fall to me just because I have a sewer grate at the intersection of my driveway.
This is not the typical grate that is alongside the curb. This is a grate that is flush with the street. You can’t see it right now as it is clogged.
When this replacement grate/flooding occurred, I complained to the city and for a year or so two workers and a city truck (expensive) would come by in a truck and clean it out around 7am. That was a pretty silly solution and that hasn’t happened in many years.