Utility well in sidewalk is missing its cover
With responsibility for repair unclear, the hazard is marked by pylon and plywood
A pylon is a reasonable way to alert people to a hole in the sidewalk, if it’s to be fixed in short order.
But if there is no urgency, the pylon will surely disappear, leaving the hole unmarked and ready to swallow the foot of an unwary pedestrian.
We’ve long been a critic of the city for plunking down a pylon as a quick fix for just about anything that can’t be fixed right away.
It’s not that we’ve got anything against pylons — the orange cones look like cheery dunce caps, and if they had chin straps, we’d try one on — but they have a habit of decamping, if left in place for long.
That appears to be the case with a utility well that is missing its cover, on the east side of Bathurst St., one block south of St. Clair Ave., marked by pylons that keep going AWOL.
Jen Ford sent us a note and a photo of the open utility well, near the middle of the sidewalk, just south of Melgund Rd., saying the pylon never stays in place for long.
“This manhole has been missing its cover for at least a year on the sidewalk,” she said. “It has been covered by an old piece of plywood and occasionally a pylon. The other day I noticed the plywood wasn’t even fully covering it. It has been this way for (12 to 18 months) or more.”
We went there and found a piece of plywood covering a utility well, with a pylon on top. It was well-marked with bright orange paint, including a big X next to it. Clearly, somebody with the city knows about it and made a reasonable effort to mark it. But neither wood nor pylon is fastened down and could be knocked off the job with no more than a welldirected boot. Status: The utility well is about one metre deep and partly filled with leaves and street trash, which made it hard to figure out what it’s for. We sent a note to transportation services, which was forwarded on to Toronto Water. After investigating, Toronto Water said it looked like it belongs to Toronto Hydro. Tori Gass, who deals with media for Hydro, sent us a note saying they’re still trying to figure out if it’s theirs. So far, the hole is an orphan, so we’ve gone back to transportation services to ask if it can affix the wood and pylon so they stick to their business. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.