Pole becomes stick in the mud
Sidewalk obstruction near Main St. station leaves lawn in ruins
A lonely utility pole on one side of Main St. is out of step with its partners, which reside on the other side of the street.
Aside from our interest in sawed-off old utility poles that take forever to disappear, we occasionally report on poles that look like they’re deliberately positioned to get in the way.
Readers have sent us photos of poles anchored in the middle of sidewalks, forcing people — including those in wheelchairs or on mobility scooters — and sidewalk snowplows into evasive manoeuvres to get around them.
It often makes us wonder about the thought, or lack thereof, that went into the decision to locate a pole in place where it is such an obvious obstacle.
Charles Braive raises the same sort of questions in a note and photos he sent us about a rusty metal utility pole on the east side of Main, where it stands as a lone sentry across from the rest of the poles on the street.
The pole, about 20 metres north of the entrance to the Main TTC station, near the northeast corner of Danforth Ave. and Main, is the only one on the east side of the street, all the way to the next intersection, at Doncaster Ave.
“Strangely, this one pole is set directly in the sidewalk and it’s a big nuisance,” Braive said.
“Every winter it forces sidewalk plows to either destroy the private lawn (as you can see), or detour into the roadway and avoid the area completely.
“Pedestrians (and this is a very busy pedestrian route) either walk the muddy sidewalk or forge a path through the unplowed snow. The lawn never gets repaired so the sidewalk is muddy on rainy days in every other season.”
We went there and found that the lawn across from the pole has been badly torn up by sidewalk plows and was a muddy mess.
Meanwhile, houses on the east side are connected to wires running across the street from poles on the west side.
Given that all the other poles north of the TTC station are used for wires running into houses on the east side, as well as street lights, it is reasonable to wonder why the only pole on the east side couldn’t be moved. Status: Last Thursday, we emailed Tori Gass, who deals with media for Toronto Hydro, which is responsible for the vast majority of utility poles.
Gass said she was too busy anticipating bad weather on the weekend to respond to our questions.
When the crisis abates, we’ll let you know what she says.
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.