Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1960-01-14
Park Street Flooding And Traffic
Problems Battling To City Heads

Rain means trouble for Rock
vile.
For every time pennies from
heaven" fall city officials know
with doleful certainty that the
Park st. underpass at the BIO
Railroad tracks is going to
flood, stall traffic, start the city
hall phones ringing. etc.
But flooding of the heavily
travelled underpass isn't its only
drawback: negotiating its mar.
row, twisting passage requires
the skill of a brOken-field runner.
These twin handicaps rate
the underpass as perhaps the
most tender traffic sore spot
in the city. The city knows it
and is going to do something
about it. But how? That's the
question.
The flooding half Of the prob
lem will be finally reviewed by
the Mayor and City Council
January rs. Storm drainage at
Park st. has been assigned top
priority in the city's projected
$685., 900 drainage budget (pared
from $997. 900 by city heads).
The Mayor and Council will
decide how much Of the total
budget will be spent, and where,
this year. While everybody
agrees Park st. flooding must
be stopped, they know also that
solving the problem won't be
easy-or cheap.
The problem is manifold and
its causes are several. First
and foremost is the surprising
fact that the train bridge was
built for the stream below it
and not for a roadway. The bed
of the stream followed the
present roadway, but now it is
diverted to the South side OF
the pavement.
When the city decided many
years ago to run a street under
the railroad, builders were faced
with the limited width imposed
by the thick stone walls of the
corridor-29 feet from wall to
wall.
The sleeper" in this situation
was that ponderous footings for
the railroad bridge leave build
ers only two scant feet below
the road surface to install drain
age pipes. This thin leeway
limits the existing pipe to just
10 inches diameter.
Run-off water from the Kim
mel shopping center on North
Washington st. and water from
newly-developed businesses and
parking lots on Commerce la.
and Middle la. drains into oval
pipes with equivalent to sc
inches in diameter.
All this flows downhill toward
Park st. and comes together in
an open collection pool on the
West side of Hungerford dr.,
across the road from Rockville
Fuel and Feed Co. A smaller
pipe carries water under
Hungerford DIR. where 1t flows
unchecked over RIFF property.
This surface freshet wends
its way into a shallow concrete
trough that also serves as the
South shoulder of Park st. as 1t
winds beneath the railroad.
Emerging on the East side of
the underpass, the water falls
into a ditch and thence into a
an 18-inch pipe.
II rain or snow, Of more than
a couple hours duration occurs,
this 1S-inch pipe simply cannot
accept all the water 1t gets, and
another flood starts.
Why not put in bigger pipe
on the East side Of the under
pass; wouldn't that solve the
problem? The answer city en-
gineers give is Eyes" but there's
more too 1t than that.
In the first place, the City
plans to eventually widen and
straighten Park st. at the under
pass. They can't do this unless
they buy land from Rockville
Fuel and Feed, and everybody
knows the price Of industrisliy-
zoned land.