Lights send confusing signals to pedestrians
An out-of-service pedestrian signal on busy Ellesmere Rd. makes getting across the street a test of patience — or nerve.
Ellesmere is not a street that people should cross without the safety of a crosswalk. With four lanes of fast-moving traffic, dodging cars would be a challenge for even the fleetest of foot.
At the intersection of Ellesmere and Dolly Varden Blvd., just west of Markham Rd., there are traffic signals and a pedestrian crosswalk for cars and people.
But the buttons that pedestrians push to trigger the lights and allow them to safely cross are not working. The button on the southeast corner is new, but it sticks when pushed and nothing happens. The result is that people who want to cross with the lights must wait for a vehicle coming from the residential area on the south side of Ellesmere to pull up to the T-intersection to make a left turn, which triggers the signal. Sometimes it can take five minutes or more. And to confuse the issue, when the light for vehicles finally turns green, the “Don’t Walk” sign for pedestrians remains on, instead of turning to the “Walk” light.
Felicity Harland emailed us about it, saying it’s been that way for at least a month. “ As this is near a primary school and a co-op housing project, it is very necessary to have a crossing that works at all times.” * STATUS: Andre Filippetti, who deals with this sort of problem in Scarborough, agreed that people need properly working pedestrian signals to safely cross Ellesmere. He said someone would be sent to fix it this week. * WHO’S GETTING IT FIXED: Andre Filippetti, east district manager of traffic operations; 416-396- 7148; afilipp@toronto.ca 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.