THE FIXER Splish splash — pedestrians take a bath
Pedestrians at Canada’s busiest intersection were dodging a dousing yesterday, as vehicles splashed through a large puddle. The area around Yonge and Bloor Sts. is always thick with people on the sidewalks, due to the concentration of shops and office towers. It’s also a major destination for tourists.
In the northbound curb lane of Yonge, less than 100 metres north of Bloor, there’s a depression in the road that fills with water whenever it rains. Such problems are often caused by a plugged storm sewer, but there’s no grate in the immediate area to contribute to the pooling of water. We’ve had numerous complaints dating back months about a small pond that forms in the dip in the road whenever it rains. With a day-long downpour yesterday, it seemed like the ideal time to check it out. We watched as vehicles headed north on Yonge zipped through the puddle, sending a spray of water showering into the air. Pedestrians on the sidewalk on the east side of Yonge who were lucky enough to see it coming were able to avoid a dousing. But others who were unlucky enough to have their head down when a car drove through the water stood a good chance of getting wet. Some drivers, especially cabbies, knew enough to slow down when they approached the puddle, giving pedestrians a break. But others roared through it, apparently unaware or indifferent to the havoc created for people on the sidewalk. * STATUS: Rob Orpin, who’s in charge of road matters in that area, said he wasn’t aware of a problem at Yonge and Bloor but said he’d send someone right away to have a look and see if there’s a way to level out the road so that puddles don’t form. WHO’S GETTING IT FIXED: Rob Orpin, manager of road operations, south district, east area; 416-392-0285; rorpin@ What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To email us, go to thestar.com, click on the GTA tab, then click on The Fixer. Or call us at 416-869-4823.