Does your nearest street storm drain look like this …
,.. or like this?
If the latter (or worse), you have seven-plus hours of daylight left to clear it before all that forecast rain arrives tomorrow. You’ll be doing a big favor for those in and/or passing through your neighborhood – whenever you see major puddling in the street during/after a storm, invariably it’s because of a blocked storm drain.
RAVE: To the West Seattle Blog for reminding people to do this. RANT: To the City of Seattle in its continued failure to maintain basic municipal infrastructure and leaving it for citizens to pick up the slack for its neglect.
Well, FWIW, the storm drains I photographed are in our neighborhood a half-block apart. The top one is on an arterial that gets a regular street-sweeper (heard it a couple nights ago). The overgrown one (which I hope to take care of shortly) is on a side street that doesn’t connect to arterials and does not get swept (nor plowed in snowstorms).
The drain in the first photo is what all drains in well maintained municipals should look like. If you see a drain like the one in the second photo, there is a problem with how the municipal is being managed.
Tomorrow when it is raining hard, if the street drain on your conner is plugged up with leaves and crud, just use a standard yard rake and open it up, it only takes a minute.
I assume the city does have to prioritize its infrastructure work. With over 30,000 storm drains in Seattle and assuming an average of 30 minutes per drain, it would require about 7 full time employees just to visit each one every year. If you’d like to help out, the city does have an “Adopt a Storm Drain” program: http://www.seattle.gov/utilities/protecting-our-environment/volunteer/storm-drain-care/adopt-a-storm-drain And no, I am not a city employee – just a long time WS resident who tries to what he can to care for community we call home. Cheers!
Thanks Brian! WE can all pitch in. Good way to meet neighbors.
Just saying, sometimes it’s hard for the street sweepers to sweep when there are so many cars parked along the curbs.You can also sign up for “Adopt a Drain” with the City of Seattle or like us we clean out the one and only that’s at the bottom of our street.
Can we just as a community do things that help the environment and our neighbors, just once, without complaining or reminding us it may be someone else’s job? The leaves come from all over. Everybody’s yards and trees.
I’m actually kind of addicted to clearing the ones in my neighborhood. This past year I probably hit every one in like a one or two mile radius of my house, many of them several times through the season. It’s very satisfying to clear off a drain and watch all the built up water sluice away!If you’re in WC south of Roxbury, centered around 26th Ave, keep an eye out for a guy in a bright yellow jacket, that’s me!
Wow, awesome Rick. I definitely get to reap the benefits of having you as a neighbor. Honks to you next time I see the guy in the bright yellow jacket! Thank you!
Cheers to the informal Neighborhood Storm Patrol folks and to Rick who clears well beyond his own block. This city does lack things I took for granted in other places I’ve lived. I grew up in a city like Bellevue, where trash service meant they retrieved your rubbish from the back, or side of your home. Fall leaves could be raked from property and neatly placed against curb which was collect 4 scheduled times between Oct-Jan. It all worked so well. Conversely, Seattle can’t wipe it’s own rear end, yet rake in high taxes, and then expect good will and donations will pick up the slack, or things just get ignored. Who should cut the grass between the street and the sidewalk? Um, the property owner– but do they along California Ave SW? Not often in my years here. Leaf blowing just put out to the street? to be blown back and forth until ground up and clogs the storm drains. The chronic ills of Seattle are embarrassing at best, and life threatening in many cases. I want so much change in this city! At least call your utility to report problems– otherwise we must be team players to pick up the lack [slack].
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