Pedestrian safety ignored
When a guy in a wheelchair has to rub elbows with traffic to detour sidewalk construction, the contractor in charge of the job has dropped the ball.
Construction contractors working for the city seem to think that rules meant to keep people safe or preserve trees are for somebody else, judging by how often they ignore them.
On Thursday, we reported on improvements at a west-end park done by a contractor who ignored the city’s requirement to erect barriers around trees that could potentially be damaged by the work. But the lack of tree protection zones is but a small matter, when juxtaposed with a wholesale disregard for safety on Carlton St., where a contractor is replacing sidewalks and doing other street improvements.
We went there to check out a complaint from a cyclist about unmarked holes and trenches next to the curb on eastbound Carlton, west of Sherbourne St. But it is no less a hazard than the pedestrian danger we saw across the street.
Two sections of sidewalk are being replaced on the north side of Carlton, between Sherbourne and Homewood Ave. The standard practice for such work is to create a walkway for people in the curb lane, using pylons.
Instead of a well-marked walkway, the contractor seemed only to pay lip service to the idea, with a few pylons haphazardly placed between the curb and the traffic lane.
To make matters worse, the workers parked an equipment truck in part of the space that was supposed to be for people, forcing pedestrians to walk around it, just inches away from fast-moving traffic.
We watched as people in wheelchairs and parents pushing strollers rubbed elbows with passing vehicles. If a driver happened to be distracted by their cell phone, who knows what could have happened. When the workers saw us taking photos, they quickly moved the truck. But if we hadn’t come along, it’s likely that the truck would have remained in the same place for a lot longer. Status: We reported it to Steve Johnston, who deals with media for transportation services. Johnston called back soon after to say that a roads supervisor was on the way to the project to assess the lack of precautions and make sure that they were addressed right away. 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 or call us at 416-869-4823, email jlakey@thestar.ca.