Contractor ditches clutter
Road construction is a huge pain for drivers and pedestrians who have to stickhandle their way around pylons, signs warning of work ahead as well as lane and sidewalk closings. There’s more orange popping around the city than spring flowers.
Having said that, construction is a necessary evil, especially this year after the long, harsh winter and frost that gouged roads, heaved sidewalks and made being outside miserable. So, patience is a virtue and as is putting up with the nuisance and visual pollution of construction signs.
But what isn’t acceptable is when contractors fail to pick up after themselves. Didn’t they learn anything from their mothers?
Case in point is Royal York Rd. under the Dundas St. W. overpass. Construction on Royal York Rd. has been never-ending. A few years ago, a boulevard- cum- flower garden was built on the northbound approach to the underpass, which closed lanes and tied up traffic. The addition of metal netting under the underpass to keep nasty pigeons from pooping on the road and pedestrians also caused congestion on the road. Now more pylons have been plopped on the road for who knows what purpose, causing a bottleneck north- and southbound.
Thing is, the contractor has left a pile of junk on a grassy patch on the east side of Royal York Rd. next to the off-ramp. The pile includes a big white plastic container, a metal pail with a broken spout containing some sort of diluting chemical, a ratty paintbrush and a piece of a tattered broom, bits of rebar and a broken chain, wood, an old traffic sign and rusting metal. It’s an eyesore and just the thing to attract curious kids who would love to discover what other treasures are hidden in that heap.
And if by any stretch there is reusable material in that pile, it needs to be separated from the chaff, stacked neatly and secured with a tarp to keep kids and wildlife out.
Better yet, all that extra construction paraphernalia — pylons, additional signs, sandbags — littering the boulevard up and down Royal York Rd. should be gathered up in one place — say, the back of a construction truck that comes to the site daily or in the contractor’s work yard. Time for contractors to do spring cleaning. Status: We contacted the city’s transportation services department where spokesman Steve Johnston said staff will check out the situation and make sure it’s cleaned up. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/thefixer or call us at 416869-4823. To read our blog, go to thestar.blogs.com/thefixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.