THE PROBLEM: Lake Montebello lacks restroom facilities.
THE BACK STORY: Bruce Paris feels the urgency of the problem.
He is one of hundreds of people who run, walk or bike on the path around Lake Montebello on warm summer nights. But where do they go to the bathroom?
"Where have you ever been with five or 600 people and no bathroom?" asked Paris, 60.
The Hamilton resident, who has been jogging or walking at the lake for about 20 years, praised repairs to the path, which reopened two years ago for exercisers. "They did such a great job with it," he said.
But bathrooms weren't part of the plan. Although most people consider it a park, Lake Montebello is a protected water facility that is part of Baltimore's water system, said city Department of Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher.
Right now, it holds excess water from water-treatment processing. In the future, however, it will become a source of drinking water.
"We want to keep the area clean. We want to keep the area as attractive as possible," Kocher said. "Putting port-a-potties at this location is not the most ideal solution. ... Those can very easily be subject to vandalism and also can be knocked over."
So, as it stands, the closest bathrooms are along the bike trail in Herring Run Park. To get to them from Lake Montebello, walkers should leave the park at Lake Montebello Drive, cross Harford Road and head northeast from Chesterfield Road on the path next to the playing fields. That path runs under the Harford Road bridge and to the restrooms.
Those bathrooms are open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 7 p.m. on weekends, said Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks spokeswoman Michele Speaks. Outside of those hours, three portable toilets are available.
In two years, however, the planned renovation of the Harford Road bridge should include improvements to the pedestrian/bicycle bridge into Herring Run Park and a refurbished "comfort station," as well as new sewer lines, Kocher said. That construction will also create a better connection between the Herring Run trail and the Lake Montebello path, he added.
Paris, the Hamilton resident, wasn't satisfied with that answer because he feels the restrooms are too far away.
"That would take at least half an hour to walk that," Paris said.
Kocher said signs would be installed directing people to the Herring Run facilities.
WHO CAN FIX THIS: City residents should call Ralph Cullison, chief of environmental services, DPW, at 410-396-0539.
- Liz F. Kay Updates online Read recent Watchdog columns and find a map at baltimoresun.com/watchdog
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Is there something in your neighborhood that's not getting fixed? Tell us where the problem is and how long it's been there by e-mailing watchdog@baltsun.com or calling 410-332-6735.
