Monday, September 27, 2010

Road issues about the Junction




Has anyone else noticed the incredibly rough and probably car damaging and people tripping state of the side street roads in the junction.

It's common knowledge the city has a monetary road fixing crises

Maybe it's tome for a road repair only tax?

10 comments:

  1. Wouldn't this fall under the concern of our local Councillor (Saundercook)?

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  2. Thought about that but no as the road issue of of city wide concern and the council as a whole is simply stop tapping the repairs, as the city just does not have the funds to do timely road repairs

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  3. Saundercook's ward is still positively pristine when compared to Nunziata's ward when it comes to Junction roads. Compare the state of St. Clair west of the recently reconstructed section for the streetcar ROW, which looks third world. Then see the condition of the likes of Ethel Avenue, West Toronto Street, Junction Road, the right lanes of Keele in both directions around the underpass.

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  4. Why are you bringing partisan politics into this? No one has mentioned Nunziata?

    And on your point.... The St. Clair street car, IMHO, is great. Gets me to and from along St. Clair in a very short period of time. I'm not as concerned about the "aesthetics" of the refurbishment as I am the function.

    The lanes on Keele are in disrepair? I have to dodge puddle splashes from traffic (like tonight) when walking north due to all the pot holes! Who's ward does Keele around Vine Ave. belong to?

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  5. The two councillors I've mentioned aren't in competition with each other for any position, so it's not partisan politics. I simply used them to identify wards, rather than the generic numbers. I couldn't use neighbourhood names since it's the same area. However, I think it's useful to attach names of politicians to wards to keep them accountable. It seems as though a lot of people come out to vote for a mayor and then choose the councillor based off name recognition, and the incumbent tends to win in that regard. They should judge based off how their ward looks, functions, and how the local economy is developing.

    No one was talking about the St. Clair streetcar. It was simply used as a geographic point of reference. To answer your last question, Keele and Vine Ave is near the northern limit of Saundercook's ward. The Canadian Pacific Railway corridor is the northern border.

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  6. Has anyone noticed an increase in Opossums in the Junction? Saw one two Saturdays ago at Dundas/Runnymede and then this morning there was a roadkill outside the sub shop at Keele/Dundas. Never seen one before in the city and now two in two weeks!

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  7. I live in Nunziata's ward and can tell you that she has been nothing but helpful to residents who reach out to her. I know it sounds like pandering, but she is a very hands-on councillor once you work with her. She never fails to return a phone call, have her staff follow up with the appropriate bureaucracy, and is always willing to meet with constituents to resolve issues. That's really all the accountability I need.

    This area has been saddled with a lot of problems and has gone through some pretty big changes all in the span of a few years. You can't expect an industrial zone to turn into a heritage district overnight.

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  8. Also, not to harp on it, but there are plans underway to revitalize St. Clair between Keele & Scarlett road:

    http://bit.ly/dtsgTA

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  9. If you demolish every heritage building like what happened at the Stock Yards with the great old office buildings and Canadian Pacific Railway buildings like the roundhouse and locomotive shops, of course you won't have a heritage zone anytime soon. (Remember, many industrial zones count as heritage districts too.)

    I know that Nunziata is good at helping residents with local problems and that the area she represents has gone through many changes. Perhaps city departments don't prioritize that area for some reason. One must observe the reality on the street. Roads shouldn't deteriorate to point that St. Clair is now west of the streetcar ROW. That's just not normal maintenance of a city.

    Now St. Clair is getting an avenue plan. It's not a revitalization plan per se; it's meant to guide public realm improvements and redevelopment, if they should materialize. The way the plan was conceived was democratic with productive community consultation was great and Nunziata was involved and interested. I'd like to see progress in this northern part of the Junction that once fueled the local economy and directly employed thousands. It's pretty much a blank slate with not much that can't be changed.

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  10. One public meeting in 2009. Ten months ago. Is that it?

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