Driving on Pleasant a trip most unpleasant
Looking to shake, rattle and roll? Then go for a drive on Pleasant Blvd., one of the roughest streets in town.
We’re coming out of one of the mildest winters in decades, and one of the least damaging to city streets.
There aren’t nearly as many potholes around as in the previous two winters — a windfall to the city and taxpayers.
Alack of snow and freeze-and-thaw weather translated into an absence of the conditions that create potholes, which will save the city a lot of money and effort when the annual patching program ramps up next month.
But we still have our share of potholes and bumpy roads, and even a small dose of winter will inevitably make them worse.
Aili Wells emailed to say she lives in Newmarket but has regular business in Toronto that brings her to the parking garage for the Sobey’s supermarket on St. Clair Ave., just east of Yonge St.
She gets to the parking garage on Pleasant Blvd., a small street that runs along the back of the supermarket, between Yonge and Avoca Ave., near the David A. Balfour Park.
“Pleasant Blvd. has huge dips in the road and bumps from previous road repairs,” said Wells.
“And for the last month, traffic cones have been placed around a sewer cover in the middle of the road, with potholes all around it. Driving on that street is like a cheap rollercoaster thrill.”
We went there and saw that the street is riddled with potholes and deep ruts, which are at their worst near the back of the St. Clair TTC station, where dozens of buses exit every day.
There’s a utility chamber near the bus exit from the station that has hardly any asphalt left around it; the constant pounding from buses passing over it has quite likely worn it away.
And when added to the big trucks always pulling in and out of the supermarket loading docks, it explains why such a small street is such a big mess. Status: Rob Burlie, who’s in charge of road operations in that area, emailed to say he “did a review of our capital works program (and) it appears that Toronto Water is undertaking a water main rehabilitation program on Pleasant Blvd. That’s why you maybe observed the (traffic) barrels around the deteriorated maintenance hole.”
“In most cases the road would be up for some capital rehabilitation afterwards. I have copied our Infrastructure Planning staff. Field investigator Jerico Labro also sent us a note saying he checked it out and has put in an order for a patching crew to fix the hole around the utility chamber.” What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer, call us at 416-869-4823 or email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.