On a busy Route 210 near Old Fort Road in Friendly, Maryland, what appears to be a pool of water frequently appears in the northbound lanes.
For WTOP listener Patrick Berling of Cobb Island, who commutes to work down that stretch of during the early morning hours, the water has led to him witnessing some scary moments, especially when the water freezes.
“You’ll see cars heading up the hill at a high rate of speed, and then they’ll lose control briefly until they regain traction back on the dry surface,” Berling said.
Berling said he contacted the state about the issue but was only told it was being monitored. When contacted by WTOP, Shanteé Felix, spokeswoman for the Maryland State Highway Administration, said the water is coming from a damaged storm drain pipe, and there is a plan to fix the problem.
“The short-term repairs include adding an under-drain system, which will keep the water from pooling on the road, and in the long term, we’ll be replacing the pipe,” Felix said.
Felix said weather willing, in the next week, the under-drain system should be installed at the site.
Berling said he hopes the repairs happen sooner rather than later, since the region will soon see more cold weather.
“I just hope that it’s salted properly before an accident occurs, because I have seen a lot of [close] calls there,” Berling said.
Felix said the area will be monitored for ice.
See the approximate location of the water on the map below.
