Russian drains, lack of

I popped out this morning to buy a leek for my soup and had to cross this improvised boardwalk in front of the row of kiosks opposite the flat as water was gushing past underneath them. This is the time of year, when the snow is melting (though usually a bit earlier; this has been a longer than average winter) which is known as the "rasputitsa", or the time of no roads, because the whole country just becomes a sea of muddy meltwater.