Who fixed the button that wouldn’t stop beeping?

Thestar.com
Oct. 22, 2021
Jack Lackey

A pedestrian-crossing button on Steeles Avenue that wouldn’t stop beeping drove Dan Haber and his dog around the bend.

But figuring out if York Region or the City of Toronto was responsible for fixing it was no less maddening than the relentless beeping, which continued for more than 24 hours before it mercifully piped down.

Haber’s home, in the City of Vaughan, backs onto the north side of Steeles west of Bathurst Street. Since the beeping button was on the northeast corner of Steeles and New Westminster Drive, he thought that it was York Region’s problem to fix.

Haber, a former writer and producer for Citytv news, crafted a note about it that was as entertaining as any I’ve ever gotten from a reader.

His odyssey began on Friday Oct. 8, when the button, which is just metres from his back yard and is supposed to make sound only when pushed, started to beep non-stop.

He phoned Vaughan to report it, and “then the fun began. They told me that, despite the fact the north side of (Steeles) is actually in Vaughan, Toronto is responsible for fixing anything on either side of the street.

“I hung up and called 311. I was told that, no, it was on the wrong side of Steeles and they couldn’t do anything. By this point the piercing beep, beep, beep had been going on for several hours.

“I went back to Vaughan, and was connected to a very nice lady who told me I wasn’t the only one complaining about this. She reached out to her counterparts at Toronto and convinced them to open a repair ticket and gave me the case number. I was told it would be tended to within four hours.

“Four hours later, it was still making its shrill call to no one. I phoned Toronto to ask what happened. ‘Yes, we dispatched a crew,’ said another pleasant voice. ‘But when they checked, they saw it was above Steeles and cancelled the job.’

“She agreed to try again and gave me a new work order number, but noted she couldn’t guarantee anything because ‘it’s not really our responsibility.’

“The device had now been issuing this intense siren song every second for eight straight hours. My dog was going crazy in the backyard and my head was starting to ache.”

He called Vaughan once more, but “unlike 311 they close at 5 p.m., and this was on the eve of the Thanksgiving long weekend. I tried talking turkey to the answering service,” but they agreed only to passing along a message.

By 10 p.m., “the noise had been beeping into my bleeping house for over 10 straight hours, with no end in sight. With nothing to lose, I headed around the corner to the signal, stuffed rags near the speaker as far in as they would go, put some electrical tape around it and managed to muffle the sound,” so he and his neighbours could sleep.

When he took his dog for a walk the next day, “the muffled beeping and my crude handiwork were still in place. No one had come to repair it, and it had now been close to 24 hours.

“Three hours later, I went back to check and someone had finally been there. My rags and tape were gone and it beeped only when it was supposed to. I have no idea which city ultimately came to the rescue but it still took way too long, almost a day and a half of incessant, irritating noise.”

STATUS: When I talked to Haber on the phone, he still didn’t know who fixed it. So I sent a note to Toronto, asking which municipality is responsible for transportation infrastructure on the north side of Steeles, and got a reply from Gary Soper, a traffic systems manager. “The City of Toronto is responsible for traffic signals along Steeles, and York Region is responsible for any signals north of Steeles. The City’s traffic signals contractor attended on October 9 between 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to repair a malfunctioning Accessible Pedestrian Signal (APS) button at the intersection.

“Traffic signals are a critical road safety device. Residents who observe malfunctioning City of Toronto traffic signals or buttons should contact 311 immediately and the service request will be prioritized for response within about four hours.”