Loose wires finally cleaned up
When wires that should be overhead are scattered across the road and sidewalk, it’s as if the world has turned upside down.
The business of running utility wires between two points has mostly been done with poles that elevate them, to reduce the chance that someone or something will get tangled up in them. But it’s not foolproof. Some will inevitably fall down, which is why the recent trend is to bury them. More about that on Saturday.
When they come down, the utility responsible is usually quick to restring them. After all, the service they provide depends on it.
So it’s curious that felled wires on Queen St. were looped into coils and left for nearly three months before Bell Canada moved them.
John Greeniaus emailed to say that on Dec. 29, “a bus took down a hydro pole on the south side of Queen St., west of Sherbourne St.
“To this day there are three coils of wire and assorted attached pieces still lying on the curb, coiled up.
“Calls to the City at 311, Rogers, Bell and anyone we can find on the street yield denials. (Toronto) Hydro: not ours, must be Bell. Bell: not ours must be Hydro.”
We went there and found three coils of wire loosely attached to utility poles and a tree, one of which had come loose and was spilling into the curb lane of eastbound Queen.
Vince Gray, who has operated an antique shop on Queen for 45 years, said he and other shopkeepers also called the city and Toronto Hydro to complain, but there seemed to be confusion about who owned them.
He noted that they were secured to the poles only with plastic caution tape, which amounted to an invitation for passersby to fool around with them, adding it was only a matter of time before they all came loose. Status: We asked Toronto Hydro and the city’s transportation services if they could figure out who owns them. Not us, Hydro said. Transportation services looked into it and said the wires belonged to Bell. We sent Bell a note, prompting a reply that said the wires had been “secured.” We weren’t sure what that meant, so we called Gray on Wednesday, who confirmed they had been removed. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca.