A note of thanks popped up in my email the other day from D.C. Hayes, who wrote to say that recent torrential rains had not left his yard flooded, as often occurred in the previous 30 years due to a poorly designed intersection.

Intrigued, I visited the Eastborough neighborhood near Murray Boulevard and Airport Road a few days later, during a driving rainstorm, to see how the recently rebuilt intersection was handling the deluge.

Sure enough, water cascading down Poe Place was hitting Longfellow Drive and draining east, away from D.C.’s yard.

In the past, the intersection would resemble a lake after much less rainfall. Even worse, it became an ice rink in winter, causing cars to spin out of control. One even crashed into his yard and destroyed his fence a couple years ago.

After reading in the paper in February that the city requires homeowners to clear their sidewalks of snow, D.C. called me.

The Vietnam veteran and retired mechanic is disabled now and can no longer deal with the problems.

“It’s my responsibility to clear snow from the sidewalk but not ice caused by the city,” he said at the time.

His plight was featured in a couple of “Side Streets” columns in February.

The cause of the flooding was a faulty “bubbler” drain installed by the city in the 1980s to replace a “crosspan” – a fancy name for a dip in the road used by developers as a cheap alternative to storm sewers to carry runoff. The bubbler was built in response to neighbors’ complaints about the dip. Digging a bubbler allowed the city to pave the intersection flat, eliminating the dip.

Trouble is, the bubbler never worked. It was prone to clogging with dirt and leaves and trash.

Since those February columns, many readers have called to complain about their own neighborhood bubblers. Seems they were installed all over the city in the 1980s.

But at $12,000 apiece to replace, don’t expect wholesale replacement anytime soon, especially given how short of cash the city is for street repairs. (Can you say “pothole?”)

The dangers created by D.C.’s bubbler were extreme, and Mayor Steve Bach ordered his public works director, Travis Easton, to investigate. Soon crews were on the scene making plans to rip out the bubblers and restore the crosspan.

Winter weather slowed progress, but work was soon completed, prompting D.C. to send me photos on May 4.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the help getting the drainage problem taken care of next to my home,” D.C. said, adding that crews even installed a handicapped ramp and replaced about 200 feet of sidewalk, including a section that had heaved due to nearby tree roots, creating a trip hazard.

“They dug out the so-called bubbler system and put in a cross over to let water flow free,” D.C. said. “I don’t have a lake by my house anymore. It’s draining really well. I don’t think I’ll have a skating rink this winter either.”

When crews ripped up the sidewalk, D.C. said the tree roots looked more like a telephone pole.

“It was humongous,” he said.

D.C. wished the crews had replaced a couple more sections of cracked sidewalk, but they didn’t qualify because they were deemed safe for walking.

Best of all, the response by the city has restored D.C.’s faith in government.

“I was surprised,” he said. “Usually, I don’t believe anything that anybody from the city says.”

Easton, the public works director, recalls the distrust he confronted the first time he visited the intersection and met D.C.

“He was definitely agitated,” Easton said. “I’m just glad we were able to get out there and get it fixed.”

D.C. Hayes explains how the intersection of Poe Place and Longfellow Drive in the Eastborough neighborhood routinely fills with water and ice in this file photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. A driver hit the ice and destroyed his fence a couple winters ago, he said. He wants the city to remove the drain and re-install a dip in the road that originally drained the intersection. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

Bill Vogrin – Side Streets

The newly rebult intersection of Poe Place and Longfellow Drive in the Eastborough neighborhood quickly drained rainwater during recent thunderstorms, as seen May 5, 2015. Neighbor D.C. Hayes said a “bubbler” drain installed 30 years ago ruined the drainage, creating a dangerous lake after summer storms and a sheet of ice in winter. The city removed the drain and re-installed a dip in the road that originally drained the intersection after a February Side Streets column. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

The newly rebult intersection of Poe Place and Longfellow Drive in the Eastborough neighborhood quickly drained rainwater during recent thunderstorms, as seen May 5, 2015. Neighbor D.C. Hayes said a “bubbler” drain installed 30 years ago ruined the drainage, creating a dangerous lake after summer storms and a sheet of ice in winter. The city removed the drain and re-installed a dip in the road that originally drained the intersection after a February Side Streets column. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

Besides a faulty street drain that flooded his sidewalk, D.C. Hayes said he has called the city repeatedly asking for help fixing a dangerous sidewalk near his house on Poe Place, seen in a file photo taken Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette

The tree is gone and smooth, new sidewalk replaced the broken, dangerous concrete near D.C. Hayes’ homes in Eastborough neighborhood as seen May 5, 2015. Besides a faulty street drain that floods his sidewalk, Hayes said he had called the city repeatedly asking for help fixing a dangerous sidewalk near his house on Poe Place. Bill Vogrin / The Gazette