Crew works through rain to fix hydro hookup
When Toronto Hydro decides it’s time to get the job done, not even a driving rainstorm will stand in its way. Our Monday column was about a large hole between two utility poles — one sawed off partway up, and the other a replacement for it — on the south side of Ellesmere Rd., west of Brimley Rd.
A reader said the hole had been surrounded by rickety plastic fencing for a year and filled with trash, construction junk and even a street light that had been mounted to the old pole.
We checked back yesterday and found a contractor crew toiling through the icy rain to complete a below-ground electrical connection that one of the workers said was why the hole was left open.
They were squishing around in the muddy hole and feeding new wiring into it when we arrived, and said they hoped to finish the job by the end of the day.
On Mar. 29, we reported on a large pile of construction materials, barricades, signs and other stuff left for months on the sidewalk at the southwest corner of Rumsey Rd. and Donlea Dr.
The Leaside neighbourhood has been under construction for a water main replacement project, with pedestrians at Rumsey and Donlea forced into the street by the stuff on the sidewalk, which was also torn up.
Steve Johnston, a spokesperson for transportation services, emailed to say “the debris, (traffic) barrels and barriers have been removed, and a temporary asphalt sidewalk has been provided, until the water main con- nection work is fully completed and permanent restorations are made.”
Our column last Saturday was about a street bench on Grand Trunk Cres., one of the new streets in the former railway lands west of York St. A reader said it has been broken since not long after the condo towers around it were built.
Carly Hinks, who’s in charge of city street furniture, looked into it and sent us a note saying the bench doesn’t belong to the city, and that they’re trying to figure out who owns it.
In the meantime, “we have secured the site with caution tape and pylons,” she said. 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 416-8694823, email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/ the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.