Can I run a water hose across a city street.
July 6, 2011 6:54 AM Subscribe
Can I run a water hose across a city street?
I built a little patio/garden across the street from a building I have downtown. Unfortunately we do not have water there. Sometimes (like now) my rain barrels run dry and I suffer a water shortage.
I was thinking about just running a water hose across the street to fill my barrels. My concern is this could be unsafe for for motorists and bikers. This is not a very busy street on weekends or late at night.
I built a little patio/garden across the street from a building I have downtown. Unfortunately we do not have water there. Sometimes (like now) my rain barrels run dry and I suffer a water shortage.
I was thinking about just running a water hose across the street to fill my barrels. My concern is this could be unsafe for for motorists and bikers. This is not a very busy street on weekends or late at night.
Where I live the Department of Transportation sometimes puts a hose the size of a garden hose across streets to measure traffic. Everyone seems to do just fine with it. So, from the standpoint of traffic, I expect it would be ok.
However, there may well be municipal regulations that prohibit it. That's something you'd have to check with someone in the government to assess.
posted by OmieWise at 6:59 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
However, there may well be municipal regulations that prohibit it. That's something you'd have to check with someone in the government to assess.
posted by OmieWise at 6:59 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't think it'd bother motorists, but it certainly would be a hazard for anyone on a bicycle. Legal? I doubt it.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:00 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:00 AM on July 6, 2011
I would do this on a not very busy street, at the least busy time of day. I tend to ask for forgiveness rather than permission, YMMV.
posted by theora55 at 7:00 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:00 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Can you? Probably. Cars and motorcyclists won't even notice. It's more likely to hurt your hose than the car. Bicyclists will notice, and this can actually be a minor hazard for them, as it's possible that the hose can shift as they pass over, potentially leading to a fall.
Is it legal? Check with your local code enforcement. Doubtful though. It's entirely possible no one actually got around to prohibiting it as such, but if someone gets hurt they can probably cite you for something.
Is it the kind of thing you can probably get away with for half an hour? Probably.
posted by valkyryn at 7:01 AM on July 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
Is it legal? Check with your local code enforcement. Doubtful though. It's entirely possible no one actually got around to prohibiting it as such, but if someone gets hurt they can probably cite you for something.
Is it the kind of thing you can probably get away with for half an hour? Probably.
posted by valkyryn at 7:01 AM on July 6, 2011 [4 favorites]
Re: bicycles etc, you might want to get a bright orange hose or something else more easily visible than your standard green/tan garden hose.
posted by reptile at 7:10 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by reptile at 7:10 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
There's this plastic thing you can put over it, I see the city using them all the time when they run electrical wiring across roads. It's sort of like a two-sided ramp that covers and protects the line. Whether or not you can get/afford one of those and whether or not the city will let you lay something liek this down is a different question.
posted by griphus at 7:12 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 7:12 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: This is in Toledo, however I am more concerned with the safety of this than the legality of it.
posted by travis08 at 7:36 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by travis08 at 7:36 AM on July 6, 2011
This is what griphus is talking about. If you put something like this (in bright yellow, even!) in the middle of the street, I think most bicyclists wouldn't have a problem with it, safety-wise.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by SuperSquirrel at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
It might pose a hazard for bicyclists, if the hose is such that the bicycle can't run over the hose in a perpendicular fashion, or if a bicyclist freaks out over the very notion of running over a hose. Though I think the chances are pretty slim. As long as this was a temporary thing, as your description indicates, I doubt that anyone, including the law, will care.
posted by 2N2222 at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by 2N2222 at 7:41 AM on July 6, 2011
If my experience biking in the potholed streets of other northern cities is any guide, I would suspect that anyone riding a bike around a Rust Belt downtown is used to riding over or around more hazardous things than a garden hose. I wouldn't sweat this, from a safety standpoint at least.
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 8:06 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by dixiecupdrinking at 8:06 AM on July 6, 2011
I suppose you could be exposing yourself to a potential lawsuit but I saw this done yesterday on a quiet street Toronto. The city ran a black garden hose from a hydrant, across the street to a park sprinkler.
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:49 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by bonobothegreat at 8:49 AM on July 6, 2011
I don't think it'll be a problem for cyclists either. We're talking about a *garden hose* here right not like a *fire hose*?
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:20 AM on July 6, 2011
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:20 AM on July 6, 2011
If my experience biking in the potholed streets of other northern cities is any guide, I would suspect that anyone riding a bike around a Rust Belt downtown is used to riding over or around more hazardous things than a garden hose.
Exactly. A bicyclist won't care, a garden hose is no big deal. A skateboarder would care quite a bit, unless they could see it easily and step off. But maybe you don't have regular skateboarders in your town like we do here.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:23 AM on July 6, 2011
Exactly. A bicyclist won't care, a garden hose is no big deal. A skateboarder would care quite a bit, unless they could see it easily and step off. But maybe you don't have regular skateboarders in your town like we do here.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:23 AM on July 6, 2011
I doubt this is specified in your city ordinances. I doubt anyone will care. I do expect that if someone complains you could be asked not to do it again.
There was a house up the street that apparently had its water cut off, and every day they ran a hose to an apartment across the street (friends or relatives) so they could have water. This went on for most of a summer. I think it was in foreclosure or something and has a new owner now, so that hasn't happened since. I didn't complain, even though I'm the neighborhood scold as far as stop-sign-running to drug-dealing goes.
I would use an old hose that you won't mind getting ruined by cars driving over it -- because where the tire hits is where your hose is likely to kink next.
posted by dhartung at 12:54 PM on July 6, 2011
There was a house up the street that apparently had its water cut off, and every day they ran a hose to an apartment across the street (friends or relatives) so they could have water. This went on for most of a summer. I think it was in foreclosure or something and has a new owner now, so that hasn't happened since. I didn't complain, even though I'm the neighborhood scold as far as stop-sign-running to drug-dealing goes.
I would use an old hose that you won't mind getting ruined by cars driving over it -- because where the tire hits is where your hose is likely to kink next.
posted by dhartung at 12:54 PM on July 6, 2011
Yeah, expect that the hose will probably get destroyed and don't leave it unattended. And just make sure it is nice and perpendicular across the street. And if it is more than one hose connected together, make sure the joint is not on the street. (Mostly because it will get run over and destroyed.)
posted by gjc at 4:34 PM on July 6, 2011
posted by gjc at 4:34 PM on July 6, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dfriedman at 6:57 AM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]