Quote:
Originally Posted by Torture
Why invest millions in parks and paving without considering drainage? Why is the standard different for a walking path vs a road?
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A few reasons come to mind. Pathways are considered more aesthetically pleasing when they're flush with the surrounding terrain. You can of course make the pathway slightly proud to the terrain but that doesn't solve any icing problems if it's too flat. Then you need to do more grading to keep water moving. Now you're blocking the natural water flows of the park space.
Raising a pathway to install the smallest allowable culvert for drainage (the city might allow a minimum 300 mm diameter) won't look as nice and create a separation in park spaces where a pathway isn't at the edge of the space. Ditches along the pathway are going to err on the smaller size (probably the smallest allowable v-ditch) and become more of a tripping hazard than anything.
Finally, all this costs more money, and pathways in open spaces traditionally haven't had a large budget.