Phone booth’s temporary wiring could lasso pedestrians
Phone booths may be on their last wobbly legs, but the few that are left shouldn’t be a danger to pedestrians.
A lot of people who grew up with cellphones don’t know it, but there was a time when pay phones were everywhere and used by everyone (especially newspaper reporters) sooner or later.
You could make a local call for 10 cents, or keep feeding change into it to maintain the connection for a long-distance call, while huddling in the booth to stay out of the rain.
There aren’t many left, but they are vital to the few people who don’t have a cellphone and a small concession from phone utilities that can’t be making much money from them.
Will McCarty sent us a note about a Bell Canada phone booth at the southeast corner of Keele St. and Steeles Ave., saying a temporary wire that runs between it and a nearby utility pole is a serious hazard in the area.
“The wire that connects to this phone booth is at neck height and quite unsafe,” said McCarty, who catches the bus at that stop there every day.
“It has had this clumsy setup for over a year now. I’ve called in three times to Bell over the year,” which has sent someone to secure the wire with a zip tie, “which undoubtedly breaks a few weeks later.”
The temporary wire “is connected to a very high pole, so it’s conceivable that if lightning strikes, whoever happens to be next to it will have an electric day.”
We went there and found a temporary wire running between a utility pole on the corner and a long plastic tube, which is attached to the phone booth with a zip tie.
At its lowest point, the wire dips down enough that we could touch it with the tip of our nose, which means a pedestrian could easily walk facefirst into it, particularly at night, when it’s hard to see. Status: We’ve sent a note to Bell, asking if it can arrange for permanent wiring that is not a pedestrian hazard, and the sooner the better. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer or call us at 416-869-4823 email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.