Tiny Thackeray St. cries out for attention
It’s a good thing Thackeray St. doesn’t get a lot of traffic, or drivers would be howling about damaged vehicles.
There’s no end of mysteries in a city as big as Toronto, and tiny Thackeray, near Dundas and Carlaw Sts., definitely counts as one of them.
It angles north from Dickens St., another pint-sized thoroughfare that runs parallel to Dundas, behind businesses in old industrial buildings that front onto Carlaw, and is no more than about 200 metres long.
The remnants of tracks for a railway siding can still be seen along its west side; they run almost all the way to the larger rail line that still slices through the east side of the city before the street stops at a dead end.
It looks more like a private lane that services back entrances to businesses on Carlaw, but it has its own street sign and its edges are marked with the city’s standard no-parking and nostopping signs.
It may have served a more important purpose 100 years ago than today, but who knows what, or why it’s a city street instead of an alley.
That leads to another unanswered question: Since it’s an official street, why has the city allowed it to fall into such disrepair?
Tony Mead, who works in the area, emailed us to say that anyone who has to access the parking area or back doors behind the businesses on Carlaw must get to it by driving first on Dickens, and then Thackeray.
“Although Thackeray is a city street it is not paved,” said Mead. “Hundreds of potholes are so large and deep that you risk damage to your car every time you try and navigate it. It’s also difficult to walk on.
“Many calls have been made by building management to the city to address the issue (but) nothing has happened,” except parking enforcement officers issuing tickets to people who ignore the no-parking signs, he said.
We went there and watched as several large freight trucks hobbled through the potholes on their way to making deliveries at the rear of the businesses. One truck teetered back and forth so much while steering through them that we were expecting it to tip over. Status: Eric Holmes, a spokesperson for transportation services, sent us a note saying the city categorizes Thackeray as an “unimproved street,” and that the city maintains a portion of it. “City crews are scheduled repair/fill the existing potholes soon. The street experiences relatively low traffic volume, primarily by those who park in the connected lot and work nearby.”
All true, but those people will really appreciate it if the potholes are at least filled. 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