Norwich residents fed up with mud

Norwich, Conn (WTNH) - Some Norwich residents are fed up over what they say has been an icy and "muddy mess" for years.

Residents who live in the area of Brown and Woodmansee Streets say the problem is groundwater flowing like a river every winter.

When neighbors first saw their road torn up they were excited because they thought the drainage problem they've had for years would be taken care of. Water is coming up from an underground spring, and in the winter when that water freezes over and covers up the road it becomes very very dangerous.

Folks tell me when they first asked workmen if they would be fixing the drainage problem, they were told it would just be paved over, so they called News 8.

"I've slipped and fallen. My husband, my neighbors, our tenant. It happens. It's ice. There's no where to get around it," said Julia Gorham from Norwich.

Gorham says she and her neighbors have been complaining for years, and now that the road is torn up for paving. It's a perfect time to fix the problem, once and for all.

"It's bubbling through the ground, and it's starting to run down the street," Gorham said.

On Tuesday we talked to the city's Civil Engineer as he got a good look at the muddy mess.

"For one reason or another we weren't aware of the spring here at this location," said Jean-Paul Laguerre, Civil Engineer for the town of Norwich.

It's a problem he says cannot just be paved over.

"If you pave only, that's only patching it, so you need to install pipes, and under drain, but I am ... We will do that as I say," Laguerre said.

"I'm very very hopeful something will actually be done," said Gorham.

The road is scheduled to be paved on Friday, and the city assures us the drains will be installed by then. There are some challenges though. There's a lot of rock on this road, and also underground utilities which have to be avoided.