Nice curbs, shame about the asphalt
When one part of a project looks good but another looks awful, it’s the bad part that people see and remember.
Regular readers of this column know I am no fan of construction contractors that cut corners to chisel a few extra bucks out of a job tendered by the city. And it flummoxes me that they so often get away with it.
It comes down to the city’s ability to enforce its own standards. Municipal officials may argue otherwise, but until the city ramps up its capacity to hold contractors to account for an inferior effort, nothing will change.
So it’s no surprise when a reader sends me a note about substandard work. I’d be more surprised — flabbergasted, actually — if complaints about a job poorly done simply dried up.
Barry Reynolds sent me an email with “terrible repair job” in the subject line, referring to curb and asphalt work on McNab Boulevard and other streets in the area.
“They have done the worst job I think I’ve seen,” said Reynolds. “It’s not the curbs per se, but the adjacent asphalt.
“On nearby streets where similar repairs have been done, the asphalt was cut out and properly replaced. On McNab, it appears it was just smashed and cleared and then new asphalt pushed in. It’s not going to last a year.”
His email included a photo of temporary asphalt between the edge of a new curb and the road, which looked shoddy and haphazard, as if it would start to crumble as soon as vehicles start passing over it.
I went there and found the same thing in at least half a dozen spots along McNab, as well as several similar patches on Balcarra Avenue, which intersects with McNab.
Aguy standing in his driveway told me he also thought it was a bad paving job, adding that he hoped the permanent work would be better.
Status: Transportation services spokesperson Eric Holmes emailed me with details of the job: “McNab Blvd. is part of a 2019 local road resurfacing program that has been carried over to 2020. In addition to the resurfacing of McNab Blvd., the curbs and sidewalks are brought to a state of good repair.
“The patches shown (in the photos you provided) are a temporary measure to allow vehicles to park and use the road safely until resurfacing is completed. The city’s contractor will return to grind and repave the road surface from curb to curb, removing the patches in the process and installing a continuous smooth asphalt surface. McNab Boulevard is currently expected to be completed in June 2020.”
What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Email
jlakey@thestar.ca or follow @TOStarFixer on Twitter