Digging deep: The Philadelphia Water Department began installing wastewater and stormwater sewers along portions of Trevose Road and Kelvin Avenue last spring. The plans originally called for a storm pipe with no stormwater inlets. WILLIAM KENNY / TIMES PHOTOS
The Somerton section of the Northeast is a place where the city meets the country.
In the 1800s, the community straddled the boundary between the historical Byberry and Moreland townships. When Philadelphia absorbed those townships in its 1854 Act of Consolidation, Somerton — originally known as Smithfield — became one of the city’s farthest outposts, a place where folks could flee the urban jungle and enjoy open spaces while remaining within the municipal borders.
But in recent months, some Somerton residents have been getting more of the country life, and perhaps the city bureaucracy, than they ever bargained for. At their urging, the Philadelphia Water Department began installing wastewater and stormwater sewers along portions of Trevose Road and Kelvin Avenue last spring.
Yet, only after several weeks of work had been completed did residents learn that the plans called for a storm pipe with no stormwater inlets. Sometime after that, word trickled to them that engineers had removed a large portion of the stormwater pipe from the plan, although flooding and erosion pervades their properties after any decent rainfall.
And while the water department, in response to public inquiries and complaints, has now promised to install the full storm sewer with inlets, residents still face many more months of navigating unpaved, mud-clogged roads while a contractor completes the prescribed work.
“Anytime it rains, the street floods completely,” said Mike, a neighbor who asked that his last name not be published because of a potential conflict with his job. “A pipe comes out the side of a hill and dumps stormwater right onto Trevose Road. Cars come by and push the water to the other side of the street and it runs off through the apartment complex. In winter, that stretch of road becomes a sheet of ice.”
Although residential and commercial development in the late 20th century squeezed most of Somerton’s truly open spaces from the map, many pockets of the community retain a pastoral feel. So-called Old Somerton, an area generally surrounding Southampton and Trevose roads, is one of those sections.
Residents have large single homes there with big, grassy yards and lots of trees. The narrow roads run at odd angles, curving and flowing with the natural lay of the land. There are no sidewalks or curbs. A lot of folks still use underground septic tanks because the city’s sewer system doesn’t reach them. A stream known locally as Bloody Run (a name linked to a Revolutionary War skirmish there) flows through the area on its way to Poquessing Creek.
Years ago, a handful of neighbors on the 15000 block of Kelvin Ave. pooled their resources and installed a private sanitary sewer line below their street. The pipe ties into the city-owned main that runs beneath Southampton Road.
But other neighbors kept their septic tanks. Some of those systems have begun to fail, according to Mike, who moved onto the 15000 block of Trevose Road about a decade ago. Most of the homes on the block were built in the early to mid-1950s, according to property tax records.
“The septic tanks were installed back then. They can last a hundred years, but they can also fail,” Mike said.
Environmental factors such as shifting soil or falling trees could compromise a tank’s concrete shell and cause leakage, he noted. And if a tank collapses, a dangerous sinkhole could result.
Neighbors first petitioned the water department to install public sewers several years ago. They even agreed to pay the city’s going rate for new sewer installation. Each homeowner would owe $9 per foot based on the street frontage or width of their properties. That standard fee hasn’t changed in decades.
After assessing local support for the project, meeting with neighbors and getting City Council approval, the department conducted a bidding process and awarded the $1.9 million job to Petrongolo Contractors. Digging began on Trevose Road in June. It’s been closed to non-residents since then.
According to sources familiar with the project, the original plan called for separate sanitary and storm sewers along Trevose between County Line and Southampton, as well as along Kelvin between County Line and Southampton. Each street is about 800 feet long. In keeping with typical configuration, the sanitary sewers were to go into the ground first, with storm sewers installed on top. On Trevose Road, the plan called for a stormwater pipe ranging in diameter from 30 inches at County Line to 18 inches at Southampton, with water designed to flow downhill from Southampton toward County Line.
But about a month into the job, neighbors say, workers informed them of a problem. The blueprints had no inlets on them. So, there would be no way for stormwater to enter the 800-foot-long sewer. Weeks later, workers told neighbors that engineers had changed the plan to remove about half of the Trevose Road storm sewer from the project (the other half had already been installed). Residents were confused by it all, knowing how the water pools in the street and on many properties after rainstorms.
One resident, John Faulls, showed the Northeast Times how the paving stones in his driveway have shifted due to repeated flooding, despite his effort to reinforce the stones with concrete. The flooding also leaves a coat of mud over much of his front yard.
Mike Lavery, the water department’s design branch manager, told the Times that engineers didn’t know about the flooding problems when they initially designed the project, which called for stormwater inlets only at the lower end of the Trevose main at County Line Road. In addition, the city defines Trevose as a “country road” and, as such, the normal design standards (such as curbs, gutters, sidewalks, block lengths and utility configurations) don’t necessarily apply, he said.
In fact, Trevose Road deviates many feet from its designated path as it appears on the city map. So, many residents have been using the public right-of-way as part of their front yards.
“It’s not your typical situation out there, so [the work] has to be engineered. And that’s what we’re doing,” Lavery said. “We’re very approachable and very flexible.”
At a meeting with neighbors late last month, water department officials reported that they had decided to run the storm sewer to the originally planned length and to add three inlets at key locations between County Line and Southampton. Lavery told the Times that one of the inlets will be placed in front of Faulls’ property with two in front of the Brookshire Creek apartment building. The new modifications also call for workers to lower the street in front of Faulls’ house in hope of capturing water before it enters his yard. Any added costs will be negligible in relation to the total project cost, according to Lavery.
“What we try to be is responsive and I think that’s what we’ve demonstrated here,” he said.
A water department spokesman told the Times that installation and paving is now expected to finish on Trevose Road by the end of this year. Only then will the road be reopened to through traffic. The plans still call for new sanitary and storm sewers on Kelvin Avenue. There will be six storm inlets on Kelvin. That work began recently and is expected to continue through late spring 2015. Traffic restrictions will apply there until then. ••
Digging deep: The Philadelphia Water Department began installing wastewater and stormwater sewers along portions of Trevose Road and Kelvin Avenue last spring. The plans originally called for a storm pipe with no stormwater inlets. WILLIAM KENNY / TIMES PHOTOS
