Q: This week's rain deluge has been rather unusual. But Kevin Kilpatrick, who lives along Ravenna Avenue Northeast, says there's always water on the roadway in his neighborhood, particularly in the intersection at Northeast 86th Street and Ravenna. And when the mercury drops, he's noticed that the northbound lanes of Ravenna from 86th to 90th are iced over because of the water.

"The water isn't going away," he said. "So why aren't there signs warning of the ice danger?"

There was an accident not too long ago, he said. "Someone wiped out on the ice and struck a few parked cars."

Kilpatrick suggests signs that would turn blue when it's freezing.

A: That water is probably coming from natural springs, says Wayne Wentz, the Seattle transportation department's traffic management director. That area has some, and there are a lot of springs around the city.

Ground water springs are not normally controlled, since they can spring up randomly, Wentz said. Seattle's drainage system captures surface water from roadway runoff into the nearest drainage inlet.

Wentz said staffers from his department visited that area recently, joined by Seattle Public Utilities and others. To help solve the problem, Wentz says a maintenance crew will clean up the road shoulder and install an asphalt berm to direct the ground water to the drainage ditch.

"I have alerted both day and night supervisors to check this area under freezing conditions," he said.

If it seems to passersby that the roadway needs sanding, call the transportation department's street maintenance dispatcher at 206-386-1218. That phone line is supposed to be staffed around the clock.

"We believe these two measures will address the drainage and ice concerns," said Wentz. However, he's not so optimistic about additional warning signs that change colors when the temperature drops.