Construction fence draws first blood
Plastic fencing used to keep people away from danger can be no less perilous, if it isn’t properly strung up.
We’ve noted before that pedestrians and drivers give up a lot of freedom to accommodate the relentless march to build enough condominiums to satisfy the city’s hot housing market. It seems like a condo project spills into a traffic lane around every corner, or a sidewalk has been closed off and pedestrians diverted to make room for all that construction. The cost of progress can also carry a painful price that extends beyond restricted movement. Lee Perenack sent us an email that included a photo of a bloody gash on her arm, the result of a “freakish accident” involving a fence in front of a condo construction project on Bloor St. W., across from High Park.
She was walking on the north side, next to plastic fencing between Oakmount Rd. and Pacific Ave., when “I felt a sharp pain on my forearm.
“I looked at it and was horrified to see that it was lacerated in several places, and bleeding. Then I realized my arm had grazed the temporary plastic fencing that was hanging over the sidewalk.
“The top of the fencing was like a series of barbs on a fishing hook, and just as sharp.
“I just want to point out that dangers lurk in the most unexpected places.”
We went there and found orange temporary fencing in front of a nearly finished condo development, which was strung up in a way that it leaned over the sidewalk in many places.
The fencing had been cut along the top, creating an endless series of razor-sharp edges that could easily slice open anyone who brushes up against it. And with people wearing less clothing now that the warm weather has settled in, there’s a lot more exposed flesh to come into contact with the barbed edges on the fence. Status: We’ve asked the city’s rightof-way management division, which enforces bylaws at construction sites that encroach on roads and sidewalks, if it can order the developer to make sure the sharp edges are eliminated. 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.