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Also, simulations were done that showed that drywells do not provide significant drainage benefits in larger storms, even if they are carrying the full flow they are sized to handle (from a five -year storm). And even without the drywells being included, the overall model shows very few flooding problems even during the larger (10- and 25 -year) storms. This aspect of the modelling does seem to match some of our observations about what happens to roadway runoff during a rainstorm. Water infiltrates quickly into roadside drainage swales, and some of it also pools at low points in the street or areas where the drainage areas along the right of way have been compacted or paved. Eventually this water just evaporates. Certainly areas right near the drywells do drain into those for a short time during and after rainstorms, but it seems that even without the drywells, water flows have many places to drain away naturally into roadside swales, and soils are permeable enough to drain quickly. More could be done to educate property owners and residents about the function of the roadside swales, and to intervene to correct minor drainage problems in areas where water pooling does occur. 3.5.1 Capital projects Capacity deficiencies (e.g, areas of potential flooding) in the system are identified through modelling, and 16 specific capital projects are recommended to add more capacity to provide varying levels of flood protection for various sizes of rainstorms. However, as above, it seems that these projects might be over - sized, given that the model seems to overestimate flooding problems. It seems important to refine the model until its results more closely match observed reality before designing capital projects, some of which are extremely expensive. 3.5.2 Drywell decommissioning projects Supposedly the capital projects above will handle all modelled and observed flooding problems throughout the system. Also, the modelling results and on- street observations suggest that existing drywells may not be contributing much to the overall drainage of our area. Given this, is it really necessary to add additional capacity to replace the lost capacity of drywells? Isn't this just redundant capacity that will be largely superfluous to controlling flooding, just as the drywells are now? Certainly the capacity in existing roadside swales needs to be preserved, but it seems that capacity arguably is sufficient as long as pavement width of roadways is not widened (since there is very little flooding now). The assumption that local streets will be widened at the time of "improvement," with added paving width for driving, parking and sidewalks, is something that has not had a proper public airing. These assumptions also do not seem to be the best choices in terms of stormwater management. In our opinion, the local street designs summarized in Table 4 -1 are unnecessarily wide, with too much new paving and too much deference to facilitating cars. Many neighbors have expressed interest in narrower, pedestrian- oriented "shared street" or "woonerf" street models (and currently our local streets function in much this way), yet none of the proposed designs reflects such a model. The models that are proposed all include a separate new sidewalk, which arguably is not necessary or desirable for local streets in most of our neighborhood. The models also propose either widening existing travel lanes for cars, or adding separate parking bays. Adding all this pavement is detrimental to stormwater goals, as well as to neighborhood livability and other environmental goals. And it seems to be contributing to the need for extra -wide engineered rain gardens to infiltrate the induced new runoff In any case, the wide "footprints" of the new roadways (2.5 - 3 times wider than current paving widths) would have a huge impact on neighborhood character (front yards, landscaping and existing large trees). The design of residential streets, together with the amount and speed of traffic they carry, contributes significantly to a sense of community, neighborhood feeling, and perceptions of safety and comfort. At the least, affected residents need much more say before any street designs are adopted as guidelines. Residents also need to be fully informed at the outset about their responsibility for costs of road