‘Bus knuckle’ a growing concern
Raised ridge of pavement a danger to motorcyclists on Kingston Rd. curb
Some things are not easily explained, like the thoroughly odd bus knuckle slowly growing over the curb on Kingston Rd.
Our regular readers know that wwe long ago came up with the phrase “bus knuckle,” to describe the raised ridge of pavement that develops in places wwhere buses constantly stop to pick up or discharge riders. Over time, the weight of buses sitting at TTC stops causes the pavement to slowly sink, particularly in hot weather. It creates tthe illusion that the area be- tween t the wheels has risen, which accounts for the ridge.
A lot of drivers barely notice them, but not motorcycle riders. The ridge can be several inches above the surrounding road surface and dangerous for anyone who hits it on a motor- cycle, particularly when the road is wet. We’ve heard from many motorcyclists who told us they hit a knuckle they didn’t see, lost control and went painfully skidding along the road.
Some are so large and gnarly tthat it almost defies belief that the pavement could so profoundly be altered. Sooner for later, the city gets around to grinding them off, whichg solves the problem until the same factors conspire to start another. But we have never seen one anything like the ridge of pavement that has developed in front of a transit shelter on the north side of Kingston Rd., just east of Brookside Dr.
A reader who lives in the area said he first noticed it last winter, “and I can’t figure out what it is or why the pavement would be all puffed up like that.
“It goes right over the curb and I’d like to know what is go- ing on under the road that wwould make the pavement do t that.”
We went there and found a mound of pavement growing up and over the curb, like a fes- tering, pus-filled boil, badly in need of lancing. We couldn’t see anything that would cause the pavement to be pushed up from under the road, which left the distinct possibil- ity that it may have been caused by buses stopping there, and that it’s a just really weird knuckle. STATUS: Hakeem Muhammad, a spokes person for transportation services, sent us a note saying “the feedback I received (from staff) is the asphalt rutting in that a spot was caused by heavy bus traffic stopping in the same area. They’re not using the term ‘bus knuckle,’ though.” He went on to say an “immediate temporary repair” will be made by “saw-cutting and removing the asphalt mound and placing new asphalt with proper compaction. This area has been included on the list for 2020 Rut Repair, where crews grind and pave the affected area to remove rutting where the bus stops.” 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