Readers get results after recent complaints
Large sinkhole now patched up, glass from street light cleaned and construction debris removed
Drivers no longer need to swerve to avoid a big sinkhole on tiny Fir Ave. after Toronto Water perfectly timed a repair of the problem that caused it.
One of our columns last month was about a collapse of the pavement on the one-block-long Beaches street, which a reader said had been growing larger every day.
When we arrived to check it out, we found a contractor crew had just begun to excavate the road to determine the cause. We noted in our column that the city got there on its own to fix it, without a request from us.
Toronto Water later told us the contractor discovered a leaky water main that washed out the road bed beneath the road, causing it to collapse, and that it would take about a week to complete the repair. We went back last week and found a large asphalt patch covering most of the road, pretty good evidence that the leak was fixed.
Also last month we reported on a street light, and the metal arm to which it was attached, that came crashing down dur- ing the mid-April ice storm, on the north side of Finch Ave., west of Victoria Park Ave.
Winnie Chan sent us an email saying that glass from the broken light was scattered across the boulevard next to the sidewalk, and that the metal arm left on the grass was also a hazard.
Toronto Hydro said the broken glass and arm would be cleaned up and the light replaced as soon as possible. Chan emailed a few days after our column to say the mess was gone and the light repaired, which was confirmed by Hydro spokesperson Tori Gass.
Another recent column was about two trees on Berney Cr. that had construction debris piled around them, a violation of the city’s tree protection regulations.
The city’s urban forestry department investigated and determined that the debris came from nearby construction work at an apartment complex.
Andrew Pickett, an urban forestry official, emailed to say an inspection determined that the apartment owner and landscape contractor “were required to all the debris from the tree protection zones” of two city-owned trees. What's broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email to jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStarFixer on Twitter