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Public Realm Maintenance

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Northern Light

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This is a thread for discussing the state of cleanliness, organization and physical condition of sidewalks, roads, signage, and streetscape. Not a thread for grand designs, but how we maintain what we have or can make small, strategic improvements.

It can/should include:

- Potholes/poor paving condition
- Uneven/broken sidewalks
- Problems with lane marking
- Problems with signage
- Problems with street cleaning / snow removal.
- Condition issues w/street tree pits/planters

Certain tangential items may/may not neatly work here, like bus shelters/street furniture etc.

This thread is not project specific, its a catch-all, so projects for which we have specific threads such as John or Yonge still go there.

This thread is not about grand designs. Its about upkeep and properly maintaining/operating what we have.

*****

Why do we want this thread?............because constructive suggestions, may result in actions; and fair minded inquiries may get answers.
 
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Screenshot_20250506-172551.png


Maybe this has been fixed in the last few months, I don't regularly drive there, but the dashed lines separating the lanes going southbound on Parkside from Bloor have been worn out for years, you have to go back to 2018 on the Streetview to properly see them.
 
Northern Light said:
This is a thread for discussing the state of cleanliness, organization and physical condition of sidewalks, roads, signage, and streetscape. Not a thread for grand designs, but how we maintain what we have or can make small, strategic improvements.

It can/should include:

- Potholes/poor paving condition
- Uneven/broken sidewalks
- Problems with lane marking
- Problems with signage
- Problems with street cleaning / snow removal.
- Condition issues w/street tree pits/planters

Certain tangential items may/may not neatly work here, like bus shelters/street furniture etc.

This thread is not project specific, its a catch-all, so projects for which we have specific threads such as John or Yonge still go there.

This thread is not about grand designs. Its about upkeep and properly maintaining/operating what we have.

*****

Why do we want this thread?............because constructive suggestions, may result in actions; and fair minded inquiries may get answers.
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Excellent idea! Some suggestions (which I have tried via 311):

1. Jarvis southbound just north of Richmond has a lane at curb that ends and is really for vehicles turning right onto Richmond. The sign is clear but it needs right-turn arrow markings on road.

1746565820461.png

2. There are FAR too many orange 'temporary condition' signs - often about projects that have finished months ago. City staff drive around all the time and surely they should report these to ??? and have them removed? Do staff who pick up litter have the tools to send in reports too? They are on the street and should see problems but I suspect have no incentive and no easy way to report them.

3. There are lots of places in city where there used to be driveways but they have been removed - the sidewalks still slope but lead nowhere. There are two examples in the photo above, one south of the Right Lane Exits sign and one north of it. Here's another example of one on George (east side) just north of King. These sidewalk slopes are unneeded but can cause problems for pedestrians - especially in winter.

1746566242101.png


4. Here is an example of a Lane that needs some proper repair. In this case, Taylor's Wharf Lane where it meets Jenoves Place. This is a major pedestrian area and this gets very messy when it rains. Many people walk from Jenoves Place to Front via the Lane and the walkway and the water is in the way!
1746568260038.png
 
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DSCToronto said:
4. Here is an example of a Lane that needs some proper repair. In this case, Taylor's Wharf Lane where it meets Jenoves Place. This is a major pedestrian area and this gets very messy when it rains. Many people walk from Jenoves Place to Front via the Lane and the walkway and the water is in the way!
View attachment 649180
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I like the two "one-way road" signs on top of eachother lol. Why?

Reminds me of this:

Screenshot_20250506-184731.png


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I really liked @AlexBozikovic's suggestion that City Planning get some quick wins by heavily investing in some of the worst public realms in the city. I can't remember where he posted it so I can't share. I checked Bluesky and Twitter, or was it IG? or HERE? 😫
 
How about Graffiti? Broken and hideous looking Lamposts? Garbage bins and transit stops? They all need an upgrade!!!
 
Garamond said:
How about Graffiti? Broken and hideous looking Lamposts? Garbage bins and transit stops? They all need an upgrade!!!
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Graffiti removal is generally a 311 issue; but if its City infrastructure, in the right-of-way of a road, or the like, it may be worth noting here if there's something that could be done to deter recurrence.

Broken lamposts are fair game, but again, the immediate repair issue is really 311. This thread is more about how do we maintain something on an ongoing basis. So if there's a systemic reason something is failing, that's more on point.

Its not that the above aren't fully legit issues, its just that UT is not a substitute for 311, and this isn't really a thread about dreamy re-thinks of infrastructure, for the most part.

By Transit stops, do you mean shelters? A broken shelter is to be fixed by Astral, under the current street furniture contract.

But I'll let you this, Astral's contract is coming up for renewal soon. So if you have thoughts on how to build a better bus shelter (as in criteria for any new contract) this is a good spot for that.
 
Northern Light said:
Graffiti removal is generally a 311 issue; but if its City infrastructure, in the right-of-way of a road, or the like, it may be worth noting here if there's something that could be done to deter recurrence.

Broken lamposts are fair game, but again, the immediate repair issue is really 311. This thread is more about how do we maintain something on an ongoing basis. So if there's a systemic reason something is failing, that's more on point.

Its not that the above aren't fully legit issues, its just that UT is not a substitute for 311, and this isn't really a thread about dreamy re-thinks of infrastructure, for the most part.

By Transit stops, do you mean shelters? A broken shelter is to be fixed by Astral, under the current street furniture contract.

But I'll let you this, Astral's contract is coming up for renewal soon. So if you have thoughts on how to build a better bus shelter (as in criteria for any new contract) this is a good spot for that.
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Broken streetlights are NOT reported to 311. You should use the Toronto Hydro reporting system - which is amazingly easy to use and actually gets things fixed. Go to https://www.torontohydro.com/streetlight-map
 
Northern Light said:
I was assuming he was meaning pedestrian-scale lights, like the BIA types, are those covered by Hydro as well?
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I assume he meant lamp posts. I thought Hydro only did the bulbs.

That said, I can't recall ever seeing a broken lamp post that didn't still have the car wrapped around it.
 
On Widmer between Adelaide and Richmond they recently repaved the road which was full of potholes but left what I assume to be temporary concrete repair of the road surface that was destroyed by the condo construction there. It looks pretty bad. The sidewalk in front of the condo building also has pavers dug up and concrete missing.

PXL_20250507_215651952.jpg

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Beautiful public realm lol.

Edit: the east old sidewalk also looks awful. Missing and I think dead trees, random asphalt patches. Orange cone over destroyed curb, and bent bollards.

PXL_20250507_220421500.jpg

PXL_20250507_220521217.jpg


And a pile of forgotten materials from the recent construction.

PXL_20250507_220751644.jpg
 
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