Clogged storm drains worsen street flooding

Drainage of storm water runoff in a Colorado Springs neighborhood can take up to several days because of clogged drains and ditches, a city spokesman said Thursday.

Headland Way, a dead-end street next to a post office on 8th Street, exemplifies the problem. The street regularly floods after heavy rain, despite two storm drains there. Water rises above the sidewalk and erodes sediment from a nearby vacant lot.

There is enough sediment at the mouth of the drain that a thick patch of weeds grows there. Drivers often travel the wrong way through the post office parking lot to avoid the waterlogged street.

“I’ve been here for four years and it’s done this,” said Charles Carver, who lives in an apartment across the street. “There’s got to be trash, debris or roots causing it.”

City Stormwater Manager Tim Mitros said clogged storm drains have been a problem since the city annexed the area several decades ago.

“We don’t know where some of those drains go,” he said. “The one on Headland exits somewhere in a vacant field and is probably buried in sediment. Unless we clean it out, it’s just going to drain very slow.”

Mitros said tracing the course of a storm sewer and cleaning it out is a lengthy, involved process.

“We don’t do it on a regular schedule because we have so many other priorities,” he said. “But if someone reports a clogged drain or a flooded street to us, we’ll respond quickly.”

Mitros also said some streets in the affected area drain not into sewers, but into roadside ditches that have become clogged with weeds and sediment over time.

To report a situation, you can call 719-385-7623. The number is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.