Sidewalk reopens, but ad billboard is still standing its ground
Large sign puts demands of the city’s partner, Astral, on par with the needs of its pedestrians The city arranged for fencing at King St. W. and Portland St. to be removed.
There’s lots of room for pedestrians on King St. W., now that a fence that covered much of the sidewalk at Portland St. is gone.
But a city-sanctioned ad billboard next to the fence that forced people off the sidewalk and onto the road? It’s still there — and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.
In a column last month, we explained how pedestrians had to step off the curb at the northwest corner of King and Portland to go around the billboard, put up by the city’s street furniture private partner, Astral Out of Home.
The city’s 20-year deal with Astral is good for both sides. It provides much- needed amenities such as transit shelters at no cost to taxpayers, in exchange for the right to post advertising on the stuff, or even put up billboards.
But the ad placard at King and Portland — at least one-metre wide — faces the sidewalk instead of the street, making it a major obstacle for pedestrians.
After our column, we got a note from the city saying the problem was resolved by taking down the fence, instead of the sign.
That opened up the sidewalk but conveniently detoured around the real problem, which is the sign.
By turning it to face the sidewalk, it is more visible to passing traffic on the road, even if it has pedestrians wondering why so much sidewalk space is taken up by it.
It’s a sign that the city puts the demands of Astral on par with the needs of people for unimpeded sidewalk space.
Also last month, we reported on an odd bit of craftsmanship at the corner of Eastwood and Hollis Aves., where a sinkhole next to a storm drain was covered with white paint when a stop line for vehicles was applied to the road.
A resident who lives nearby told us he was incredulous that paint was slapped down all around the hole, but nothing was done to fix it, even though he’d re- ported it to the city more than once.
After our column, a Toronto Water spokesperson told us it would be fixed before the end of the week. We checked back this week and found the hole repaired.
What's broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStarFixer on Twitter