Flooding on Herman Road a logistic challenge for drivers
SUMMIT TWP — When a heavy rainstorm hits the township, Chuck Montag says residents know that Herman Road will likely close due to flooding.
“It’s become a way of life around here for the road to close,” Montag said. “I’ve tried in the past to have someone fix it, but I think we’ve all accepted it won’t happen.”
Montag, president of the Summit Township Sportsman Club, said Herman Road floods just outside of the club “several times a year,” to the point where the road closes. While he said it does not particularly impact the club’s operation, his concern lies in the impact on drivers as Herman Road is one of the most traveled roads in the township.
The flooding is caused by a stream that flows from a pond located on the sportsman club’s grounds before traveling through a culvert below Herman Road. On the other side, it joins with another stream and passes through another culvert.
One major cause of the flooding, in Montag’s opinion, occurs right under Herman Road, where a culvert only has a few inches of additional clearance on a normal day.
On Tuesday, March 25, a particularly dry and windy day, Montag measured the distance between the surface of the stream and the top of the culvert with a tape measure, showing the distance to be 10.5 inches.
Montag said he believes another cause of the flooding to be the stream on the other side of the culvert. The flow of the stream weakens underneath the culvert, making the remaining stream much slower and deeper than the club’s side of the road.
“The water has nowhere to go. It all just sits here. There’s barely any water flowing into the next culvert,” he said.
Montag said the flooding has been going on for as long as he’s been involved at the club. Years ago, he decided to look into fixing the issue.
To address the flooding, Montag first went to the local municipality — Summit Township — for assistance. However, the board of supervisors informed him that Herman Road is a “state road,” and therefore falls under the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction.
That jurisdiction came in to play when Supervisor Larry Osche, who also serves as township roadmaster, tried to declare the road closed during a flood.
“A few years ago, the road flooded down there. I went there with the road crew and we put up road closed signs,” he said. “PennDOT came and informed us that is their road and we have no authority to close the road.”
Then, Montag pursued help from PennDOT. He said PennDOT is aware of the flooding issue and has taken steps.
“I’ve talked to PennDOT about the whole thing. They’ll clean the brush out of the culvert, and that’s really it,” he said.
Christina Gibbs, community relations coordinator for PennDOT District 10, said maintenance has been performed on the road to minimize flooding, including the removal of brush, installation of a pipe to contain the stream and the removal of a beaver dam at one point.
However, Gibbs clarified, modifications to the stream fall outside of PennDOT’s jurisdiction.
“Any changes such as removing debris, redirecting or dredging would fall outside of our responsibilities. Because of the stream, there are also environmental controls in place that further complicate this location,” she said.
Gibbs also said that while PennDOT sends crews to “proactively check areas where flooding can occur to make sure inlets are cleared.”
“Herman Road is not scheduled for any major reconstruction projects which would essentially be the only option available to PennDOT to permanently address the flooding,” she said.
Montag said he believes nothing will be done, yet he still holds hope.
“I haven’t heard anything about an engineer coming out to look at the culverts and stream,” he said. “I think an engineer would be able to recognize and find a fix to the issue.”
