Queen and Peter

The 'Hug Me Tree', a well known feature of this section of Queen West has just recently had an upgrade with the addition of a swank steel plate surround base and a nesting of birdhouses on top. I noticed that with the first light sprinkling of snow that the base is pretty slippery! And the couple of nails sticking up out of the bird house where one might grab it for support make for a really dangerous renovation. Looks pretty nice now though! I placed rocks at each of the four corners and gave it a good hug. Any guerilla surface refinnishers/nail pullers out there?

Undeground at 130 Adelaide St. West

Whoa! On the right hand side of this staircase in Toronto's downtown underground 'Path' system is a way too steep wheelchair ramp which is hardly visible as you approach it and a heck of a trip hazzard. Architecture that needs a warning sign even after construction is complete.

King West At John St.

This part of a guard rail/hoarding system at a large construction site, has sharp unfinnished ends protruding as a result of the use of the wrong fitting to terminate it's horizontal members. The bit of ethafoam wrapped around the upper connector was found nearby and serves as a 'bandaid' solution to the problem of the nasty sharp edge at hand height.

Seasonal Lighting

Festive lights on the cranes at Concord, Sheppard and Provost.

99 Avenue Rd.

What's left of some kind of box still fastened with metal fasteners to the sidewalk at 99 Avenue Rd. Had a cone in the truck so I placed it there after calling 311.

606 Yonge St.

Another deep hole from a damaged fixture in front of 606 Yonge Street.

Saturday Night

On a typical Saturday night in Toronto drunken "people" roam the streets late at night overturning newspaper boxes. Seven days a week these paperboxes are filled with questionably accurate stories about current events and the nobility and integrity of our government and justice system. Considerable intollerance and one might reasonably argue hatred is apparent in many of the editorials. Another popular theme is the publication of misleading advertising for goods and services such as housing.

Cover

Noticed last night that a new cover had been placed on the hole at 63 St. Clair Ave. West. It seems that it is slightly larger than the original one though and doesn't quite fit. Still it's progress.

25 St.Clair Avenue East

Repairs underway to an item that was posted here on November 24. The new metal fixture is in place (it's under the cone). Waiting for asphalt to bring the surrounding surface up to grade. Wow, it LOOKS like you could blame me for obstructing an entire lane of traffic!

Let Them Choose Thier Vice???

Looks like this sign's author already has!

Sheppard Avenue East

Just west of Bayview on the North side of Sheppard this sewer grate exists with a gap (in the foreground) large enough to swallow a dog's leg. As I left the scene a man appeared walking a dog in that direction. The grate seems to be designed that way with a hinge on the gap side. I wonder if a component that would fill that space could be designed.

Yonge Street

This stub of a post is sticking out of the sidewalk in front of 2148 Yonge Street.

Sheppard and Doris

A pit, four or five feet deep, and roughly eight by ten feet in area, is left largely uncoverered. No shoring is visible in the pit and its perimiter on the sidewalk side has gaps large enough for an adult's foot to go through. The opennings pictured in the foreground are easily large enough for a child to enter. This situation exists just a few hundred meters from a school and when I arrived the warning markers around it were placed such that pedestrians would be in danger of stepping on a gap even if they walked outside the marked area.

Yonge and Sheppard

At the north east corner of Yonge and Sheppard, directly adjacent to the roadway, some decorative paving stones are missing. The resulting void has filled with water creating the potential for a surprise skating rink at this pedestrian/automobile interface when sub zero temperatures arrive.

Dundas West Of Spadina

A damaged utility fixture of some kind on the road in front of a Dundas Street West business.

Tooth? Shark Fin?

A railway siding ''wheel stopper'' protrudes from the grounds of The Evergreen Brickworks project like the fin of a cruising shark.

Richmond Street West

Oh, if I were a Richmond. . . I'd have some overhead work to do?

King St. and Ed Mirvish Way

The Lock is broken on this litter bin. The door is dificult to see in the dark (I used the flash here) and might be a nasty thing to bump into.

Yorkville

Seasonal Conifer lights up Yorkville.

River Street

About 30 yards north of the Humane Society, on the east side of River St., this remnant of a post sticks up out of the pavement.

Yonge and St. Clair

This access cover is not damaged but is set into the pavement on an angle. It had apparently been leveled to grade with asphalt. The asphalt has broken off in chunks which now lay loose atop the cover.

Bessarion and Sheppard

Bent the one nail I saw here to a safer position. More wood than I felt right picking up given large volume of high speed traffic and the fact that I was carrying food.

Dundas and Victoria if I Recall Correctly

WooHoo! Even if you're not a hockey fan a little civic pride might be a good thing for everyone!

St. Clair and Avenue Rd.

Someone did an artistic and skillful job of the new curb here. I wondered though if this kind of avant-garde design might pose a danger to a cyclist or a snow plow or street sweeper and hinder drainage.

25 St. Clair Ave. East

One more for the holy city series reported to 311 the city's very helpful 24 hour access number.

63 St. Clair Ave. West

Pizza slice sized damage to access cover.

63 St. Clair Ave. West

This is the second access cover of this type I've seen broken near this location in a couple of months. This one seemed to fracture along the grid lines to some degree. I had an idea that the existing stock of these might be made considerably stronger if a disk of fiber mesh material were applied to the upper surface and then saturated with epoxy resin and non skid grit for a finish. That would fill in the grid lines in effect making the whole structure thicker and I'm guessing quite a bit stronger. Something that might be easily done a little at a time by a small crew with a truck carrying a kit designed for the purpose. Even if the covers did fracture the mesh might hold them together well enough to prevent this kind of hazard from occurring. I suggest using good ventilation and all environmental precautions when working with epoxy folks.

Dundas Square

A bear that's getting regular hugs from photo subjects.

Sidewalk Display of Secondhand Books

Late night browsing downtown.

Window Display on Bloor near Bay

Powerful design minds at work, I'm shocked!

Albert Street

Called 311

Concord

The Concord development at Sheppard near Leslie. I'd been dreaming part of this new space could become a home for a Naturopathic Center giving visitors to the nearby Naturopathic College and Clinic a place to stay a few days for more intensive treatment.

Bay and Bloor

Nice display of conemanship!

Concord

Another view through the fence at the Concord development at Sheppard.

Avenue Road and St. Clair

Plate bent up on the corner of The Avenue Road Arts School. Actually kind of a pointy edge so close to Brown Public School but not sharp sharp just pointy.

Fall Colours in David Balfour Park

More from David Balfour

David Balfour Again

6:49pm

It was remarkable and disturbing to me that less than an hour later I saw another fridge or freezer with the door swung partly open in a truck outside of the Home Depot at Laird and Eglington. I did a search for specific safety concerns around fridges with the modern magnetic sealing strips but can find no information relating to the possibility of a child or otherwise being unable to open such a door. In theory I suppose they would be no more difficult to open than the fridge would be from the outside but I'm left wondering if the doors on horizontal units with the door on top pose a hazard. I also wonder if very small children might not be up to the task of opening even the standard fridges.

6:00pm

I removed the folding portion of the hasp as well as the seal from the ice chest.

5:54pm

I removed the seal from the middle one and put it inside the fridge.

5:52pm

I found these three fridges outside the snack bar at Sunnybrook park in here in Toronto. The one on the right was full of water and had no seal. The one in the middle had a seal but the fibreglass insulation left in it prevented the door from shutting. Both it and the one on the left were to my mind potential killers. The ice chest on the left had an intact seal and an improvised hardware store hasp set that could not be opened from the inside contrary to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's Refrigerator Act of 1956 which can be downloaded in pdf. format and found at: http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/rsa.html and is outlined at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5072.html

Lost

Lost track of where this one was...anybody know?

Yonge St. West Side South of Bloor

Bit of a trip hazard next to a busy street.

College and Augusta

This little guy reminded me why I pick up trip hazards and call all these holes and things in to 311 the city's 24 hour access line. They've been a great help.

Leaf

First leaves begin to fall.

Grate Openning

Significant hazard to a dog or someone with a small foot (like a child) in a damaged grate adjoining the sidewalk at the Krishna Temple at Roxborough and Avenue Rd.

Cover in Place

What the openings bellow look like with the cover in place.