The city is a lot better than people think at fixing things.

There is no problem finding things to fix in the big city, except for Monday.

I spend at least a couple of hours driving around the GTA most days, checking out complaints from readers and returning to locations of problems I previously reported on to make sure they’ve been fixed.

Some complaints don’t add up as a subject for a column, once we’ve looked it over, while others aren’t nearly as bad as described, which also disqualifies them.

And sometimes the city beats me to it, which happens a lot more often than you might think and confirms my sense that it fixes a lot more problems than citizens credit it for.

I headed out Monday to look at four problems recently reported through SeeClickFix on my Fixer homepage at thestar.com., which also go to 311, allowing readers to file a complaint with the city and tell me about it at the same time.

Cool, eh?

More about SeeClickFix in an upcoming column.

The first was a loose utility cover in the northbound lane of Royal York Rd., just north of Bloor St., near the entrance to the Royal York TTC station.

The cover was supposed to be making an aggravating clank when vehicles drove over it, so I drove over it twice and heard not a sound. I got out of the car and listened while other vehicles drove over it. Silence.

I moved on to Lansdowne Ave., where a cyclist had complained about a wheel-catching hole in the road in the southbound lane, just south of the No Frills Store at Dundas St.

The hole, which had been circled with red paint, was filled with fresh asphalt.

Next stop was the northeast corner of Front and Portland Sts., where a reader complained about pedestrian crossing signals that had been turned to face another direction.

They were positioned exactly where they should be when we got there.

The fourth problem was at Kingston Rd. and Lark St., near Dundas St., where a reader said a large construction sign was left on the curb long after the work – which I reported on in a column last month – was completed.

You guessed it. The sign was gone.

While it might seem like things never get fixed around here, take it from a guy who goes looking for trouble every day that a lot of stuff does.

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Tina Conidis]

This parking lot is a mess. The potholes are filled on a regular basis and only lasts until the next rain and then the potholes become mud holes. The city needs to permanently fix this problem with cement or ashpalt.