Jan 11, 2024 By Karen Mansfield 3 min read

Thadd Alley in Chartiers Township on Tuesday, during heavy rainfall.

A day after heavy rainfall, water remains on Thadd Alley.

For most of the two years Robert Kline has lived in his Chartiers Township home, Thadd Alley has been a headache.

The alley, a road that two households use to access their driveways, and others used to access Allison Avenue, flood whenever there is heavy rain.

That was the case on Tuesday, when more than an inch of rain fell in a short amount of time, causing water to pond on a portion of the alley and swamp neighbors’ yards.

Kline and a neighbor, Len Cancilla, measured the water level at 8 inches deep Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve been trying to resolve this issue for a long time. In my case, it’s been flooding against the walls of my house,” said Kline. “The property gets saturated, (the water) comes off Thadd through my yard, sweeps through the front and back, and goes into the neighbor’s yard.”

The township has attempted to resolve the problem. In September, the public works department excavated the alley and added larger stone that would allow the water to infiltrate, said township manager Jodi Noble.

“It has been an issue. Water is affecting a township asset, the alley. We undertook a project to improve the drainage by improving the infiltration,” said Noble. “We did the same thing in this section as we did in another section, and this one is holding water. The other one is doing fine.”

Noble also said the township isn’t responsible for all of the water that is spilling onto residents’ properties.

The township had considered three options, and settled on the excavation and addition of stones because the other options would have been cost-prohibitive.

“It is something we are dealing with. Sometimes, to do things right, it doesn’t happen in an hour. We’re working toward the right solution, but we don’t want to misspend taxpayers’ money either,” said Jennifer Slagle, the township’s director of engineering and planning. She said the length of the area affected by heavy ponding is about 100 feet.

Noble said the township is seeking a temporary solution during the winter months, and will work on a permanent solution for the alley.

“We need to look at how we can temporarily address it to help the residents, even though it’s not all the township’s water,” said Noble.

Cancilla attributes his cracked and buckled driveway to the drainage issue. On Tuesday, he looked at the ponded water in front of his driveway.

“I have a big enough truck, so I can drive through the water and get out of here, but other people can’t get through here,” he said. “My wife has to park out front, she can’t get through.”

Kline said he and his neighbors had expressed concerns to township officials over the summer that the plan to address the drainage issue wouldn’t work.

“There’s nowhere for the water to go because there’s clay underneath. It’s basically a gravel-filled swimming pool,” said Kline. “We’re frustrated. When the temperature gets cold and it freezes and the alley’s a sheet of ice, it’s going to be a whole other problem.”

However, Slagle said there are other issues the township is looking into, including groundwater and springs.