Hydrant parking conundrums
A Good Samaritan is to thank for a warning sign erected on Hurndale Ave.
Alerting drivers to fire hydrants that they can’t see is a great idea, but the city apparently isn’t alone in putting up signs to warn them.
We’ve been writing about the need to deter drivers from parking in front of obscured hydrants — a $100 ticket — and the value of signage that warns them about it, after two such signs on University Ave. were taken down.
They were quickly replaced after our columns caught the eye of Mayor John Tory, who encouraged officials to put them back.
It shows that the city isn’t deliberately creating ticket traps to prey on drivers, which some people suspected.
But it raises the issue of why the city doesn’t erect warning signs in any spot where there’s even a slight visibility issue, to protect people from tickets.
We got a note from Michael Levin about two hydrants on Palmerston Ave., south of Dupont St., that are “fishing holes for parking (enforcement) guys.”
One at 866 Palmerston is hidden by bushes, even though a bylaw requires property owners to clear vegetation around them, he said. Another at 822 Palmerston is next to a sign that seems to say parking is allowed in front of it, which he correctly notes is deceptive and “a gold mine for tickets.”
We went there and found that the vegetation has died off at 866, making it easier to see, but the parking sign at 822 could induce drivers to park in front of it.
Both could use warning signs, like one we recently spotted on the north side of Hurndale Ave., just west of Playter Blvd., above a hydrant that is set back from the street, inside a recessed area of fencing next to a private property. The red-on-white sign is tacked to the railing that runs along the top of the wooden fence, its clearly visible from the street and an excellent example of how to shoo drivers away.
We haven’t seen a sign like it, except for the black-on-yellow signs on University, so we figured the city is finally putting up signs in more places where they’re needed and wanted to give them credit for it.
Status: We got a surprising note from Allen Pinkerton, who’s in charge of signs and markings, saying it isn’t the city’s sign.
He speculated that it might have been installed by the homeowner on the other side of the fence.
“I would like to confirm that the city did take the issue of placement of hydrants seriously,” said Pinkerton, noting that traffic operations did a review two years ago of hydrants that drivers might not easily see. About 15 locations were identified “and signs were installed accordingly,” he said.
The hydrant on Hurndale was clearly not on that list, as well as the one at 866 Palmerston. We’re hoping the city will take another look at obscured hydrants and increase the number of warning signs. And we’ll be going back to Hurndale, to see if we can find the Good Samaritan who stepped up to warn away drivers where the city didn’t.
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Email jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStarFixer on Twitter