A broken storm drain leading nowhere
Aroadside catch basin that funnels water straight into the soil around it is not only useless, but a threat to the stability of the street.
We’re into the fall rainy season now, when we alternate between damp, drizzly weather and downpours that can fill the curbs next to the road with rainwater that needs somewhere to go.
To prevent flooding, catch basins are a common and necessary feature of road infrastructure, channelling runoff into pipes that connect with storm water sewer lines.
But when the storm drain connects to nothing, every time there’s a big rain, it erodes the dirt around it and could eventually make the road unstable.
Jeannette Goulin sent me a note about just such a storm drain, on the south side of Humberview Road, near the upscale Baby Point area west of Jane Street, which is causing a large washout
Humberview “was resurfaced a few years ago and one of the storm drains seems to not have been connected properly,” she said.
Goulin said she notified her city councillor and Toronto Hydro about it in mid-July “as the erosion is reaching a dangerous point where the road may start to collapse and a hydro pole which serves a significant part of the neighbourhood is being encroached on.”
I went there and found a substantial washout of the area around the drain, leaving some of the support struts for the roadside guard rail connected to nothing. It was marked with pylons and caution tape, but since the problem is on the other side of the guard rail, it’s not a pedestrian safety issue.
Status: An email from Tom
Kalogiannis, a city manager of transportation operations and maintenance, said, “City staff have placed bright orange snow fence around it to make people aware of the area and keep people safe. Staff continue to actively investigate the location and we can provide an update once the appropriate course of action is determined.”
I’m no traffic engineer, but it looks like the appropriate course of action is to fix it right away. No more investigating.