It rained this week; in fact, it rained a lot.
Yet despite the downpour, several motorists failed to alter their habits.
As I was driving Wednesday afternoon, the rains caused flooding across countless city streets.
I must admit that avoiding the flooding was inconvenient and frustrating. To get downtown from near the VA hospital, I was forced to go north to Coliseum Boulevard and back down Wells Street.
Others didn’t feel like being inconvenienced – plowing through near-lakes of water covering the roads. Many got through, but some did not.
Fort Wayne police responded to four stranded vehicles Wednesday caused directly by flooding and a dozen more not directly related to flooding. This isn’t an extremely high number, I admit, but I have to believe other problems occurred that weren’t reported to the police.
I personally witnessed a vehicle stall as it tried to get through high water. Although city crews worked to close streets as quickly as possible, at the height of the rain, streets were flooded with no barricades.
A lack of a barricade, however, should not eliminate drivers’ common sense. Driving through high water can be dangerous not only for the driver but also for the vehicle.
Water can enter a vehicle’s intake, flooding the engine and fuel system. I have firsthand experience thanks to Mrs. Sage and a previous flash-flood event.
It doesn’t take a deep end of a swimming pool to cause disaster: 6 inches of water will reach the bottoms of most car doors; 1 foot of water will float many vehicles; and 2 feet of moving water can carry away most vehicles, according to the Indiana State Police.
People who then get stranded in flooding become difficult to rescue as police can’t take a tow truck into the flood. State police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz said he asks drivers to drive in rain similar to how they do in snow and ice.
“It doesn’t take that much water to create a hydroplaning effect,” he said.
Hopefully, we won’t experience another such downpour for some time, but I ask all drivers to keep this information stored for when it comes. Taking a few extra minutes’ detour is well worth avoiding costly repairs or even life-threatening danger.
More restrictions on U.S. 27
The Indiana Department of Transportation will restrict traffic on U.S. 27 northbound on Tuesday between Superior Street and Baltes Street near downtown. Crews will patch the sidewalk and perform joint repair on the bridge over the St. Marys River, causing intermittent lane closures.
The work – which I emphasize again is for northbound traffic – is expected to be done by Thursday.
Road update
Look for a bonus Road Sage column coming Tuesday as I preview the summer construction season for area drivers. With the end of the Memorial Day holiday, motorists should be prepared for several large projects to slow their commutes.
Radio Sage
This week’s audio question comes from Leonard Marks, who asked about the intersection of Ardmore Avenue and Covington Road. The segment originally aired Friday on WOWO and can be found online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage.
