Sewer pipe overhaul slow and smelly
When oh when will the disruption and stench of a sewer pipe replacement project finally end on Lawrence Ave.?
That’s a question area residents and drivers who travel along the east end of Lawrence have been asking for at least the past year, especially after work ground to a halt several months ago.
The big hole in the road just west of Beechgrove Dr., has become an ongoing source of aggravation for locals, along with road reductions that force four lanes of traffic into two. Some residents whose homes are within the work zone have to cross it to get in and out of their driveways, while dragging their trash and recycling bins through the construction and out to the road for collection.
Neil O’Brien emailed to say “the smell from the hole is sometimes unbearable,” adding that there has been “no work or machinery on site for the past summer.”
“Traffic is diverted around the excavation and is down to one lane in either direction at Beechgrove. Visibility pulling out from side streets is also hindered,” O’Brien said.
We went there and found a huge hole covered with plastic tarps and surrounded by concrete barriers, with a series of large orange pumping machines humming away. The only activity we saw was a guy transferring fuel from a tank truck into the pumping machines. STATUS: City spokesperson Eric Price sent us a link to an update on the city website that says replacement of massive sewer pipes that are part of the Highland Creek sanitary trunk sewer project was scheduled to be done on Aug. 31, but the completion date has been pushed back to Dec. 1.
“In July, the work came to a halt with no activity on site,” according to the update. “The existing sewer makes several sharp turns underground from Lawrence to Beechgrove. The new pipe sections were manufactured to tight fit precisely inside the existing sewer. A few of the NEW pipe pieces did not fit as designed. This is when the work stopped and the project team reviewed information to determine the cause and identified the next steps.”
It goes on to say that “residents have expressed concern due to sewer odour coming from the site. The contractor has covered the pits/openings through which the new pipe is lowered and an odour suppression agent is sprayed to mitigate residual odour. We will attempt to seal the opening better and continue reviewing concerns about odour. To date, about 40 per cent of the total new pipe has been installed. The work will restart soon and it is anticipated that all in-sewer repair work will be completed by Oct. 31, and site restoration work will be completed by Dec. 31.” What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email
jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStar