The question would be: Why would you travel all the way through the sewers to WC if you can use the grate in the WC-basement and get there almost problem free? There really aren't that many advantages of taking the long route. The "long route" would be after the electricity in the sewers.
* With the basement grate you only have 1 spiderbot. With this longer route you have *at least* 2 security bots, 2 mini-spiderbots and then either another minispider or the big spider. And what are the rewards?:
* There is an alternative entry point to DDL with a spidercannister... but is it really worth the falling damage? (wasn't there a XP-bonus in 1.0.1? I didn't get it this time with 1.0.2?)
* There is pretty much no way without rebreather to lower the bridge the bridge without taking some damage from lack of air.
* The door immediately to the right has nothing? Not even with abundant items? Then why the heavily locked door?
* In the big hall going right leads to an impressive security system. But what the hell does it protect? There are 2 holes there, and you drop in an area you can also get through from other vents, without the security measures?
* Many of the vents (including the one above) go to a section with a dead bum lying around. Which has nothing on his body at all. Okay...
* Going straight from the opening from the sewers, and climb all the way down and there is another spiderbot, guarding... nothing.
* Going left in the big room forces you to fight 2 spiderbots and travel through the hot room. Which can be completely circumvented by going straight, then up. And there isn't anything there to make this detour worthwhile that isn't easier to get that other way!
* The code to get INTO the big hall area is placed with the big spiderbot at the other sewerentry point. but why the hell do you need it to get out? You need it to get it... but here it is; locked very much next to your target, the sublevel, far after getting to that door. What does that lever do anyway???
* There are some goodiees near the alternative entry point to the sublevel with the mini-spiderbot, but you have to use multitools on the entrypoint since the code is nowhere to be found in the game. You can find the key to the nearest entry point from the WC-basement, and pretty much in the next room to boot. And these goodiees hardly seem to make up for the extra effort, considering they are the only ones (okay, maybe the spiderbot canister)...
Inbalanced if you ask me. The sewer in general, while awsomely cool, misses kind of a proper purpose and goodiees less difficult areas do seem to have received (just look at that hotroom), beside DDL.