Bridge repair an example of the fine work city employees do: The Fixer

One side of a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians had just been fixed when we got there, with the other side up next.

TheStar
Aug. 25, 2016
By Jack Lakey

Just about everybody likes to complain about the city, but its workers don’t get enough credit for the excellent work they do every day.

Compared to just about any other big city, we’ve got it good here. Traffic is a mess and we cede too much space to development, but the city itself runs pretty darn well.

It’s obvious to most people, but chronic complainers don’t let that get in the way of the false narrative about how it can’t get anything right, and that its employees are lazy and overpaid.

The opposite is true, in our opinion, and we’ve been doing this long enough to know. It’s impossible to keep up with everything that needs fixing in a metropolitan area as large and fast-growing as the GTA.

For the most part, genuine safety issues are repaired sooner rather than later. A case in point is the bridge for cyclists and pedestrians on a trail in Humber Bay Park West, near Lake Shore Blvd. and Park Lawn Rd.

Judith Butler noted in an email that “much has been said of the dangers to cyclists posed by street car tracks, but I find surfaces like the multi-use bridge at Humber Bay equally daunting.

“I'm never too sure how to position my tires - on the wood or on the charcoal slats? - but the chronic deterioration makes it dangerous no matter how cautious you are.”

Butler said holes and cracks in the wooden slats were previously repaired with concrete, “but this didn't work well and now the chipping concrete adds to the whole mess.

“It's hard to believe that people have not complained, as only a pedestrian with a confident gait and excellent vision is truly safe on this bridge.”

Maybe someone did. We were there Tuesday and found one side of the bridge cordoned off with pylons and caution tape, to allow a special material used to patch the holes to harden.

We bumped into a parks worker who said the holes had just been filled, and that the other side would be done later this week.

Obviously, it was on their to-do list, and they got to it before we could ask them. So let’s give the parks department credit for a timely fix.

If you know of other examples of good work by the city and its employees, let us know and we’ll spread the word.