‘It seems very disrespectful to the neighbourhood’: The city was supposed to make this intersection safer. Instead, it’s made it worse

Thestar.com
July 19, 2023

If it seems like the city doesn’t always know what it is doing, look no further than the construction debacle at Lawrence Avenue and Kingston Road.

Since early spring, the busy intersection of Lawrence and Kingston has been a construction zone, with two of the four corners dug up for something or other, along with centre medians in three of the four directions.

Work at the southeast and southwest corners forces pedestrians to mingle with fast-moving traffic to circumvent the taped-off excavation, when they should be crossing the street in clearly defined crosswalks.

But the job came to a halt in early June, with no progress since, which has area residents wondering why the project seems to have been abandoned.

I’ve gotten two notes from readers who are frustrated by the delays and the effect it has on traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular.

Scott Harrison emailed to say that information on the city’s website indicated that the project was to have been completed by June 6, a date that has long since passed.

“The centre medians have been ripped up, the right-hand turn areas have been blocked off and some of the traffic lights have been missing,” said Harrison.

“It’s very dangerous to both pedestrians and general traffic. Traffic is a nightmare here at the best of times, since they installed those red (bus) lanes.”

Hollie Cooper sent me a note saying “pedestrians have to walk around these holes, which puts them outside the crosswalk in this extremely busy intersection.

“Ever since the holes were dug, there has been no construction whatsoever. It makes you wonder why they destroyed what was there to just stop and leave it in a mess.

“I know that our neighbourhood isn’t the most attractive, but this makes it look even worse. It seems very disrespectful to the neighbourhood.”

I was there last week and saw pedestrians detouring around the excavations, with lots of supplies and construction equipment in the immediate area, but no sign of construction workers or any recent activity.

STATUS: I sent a note the city, asking why the intersection was dug up, why work was halted and when the job will be done. The city’s reply said the intersection “required improvement to provide a safer crossing for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

“The work underway involves infrastructure improvements including reconfiguration of the intersection; relocating and upgrading traffic signals, new hydro poles and, repairs to curbs, gutters and sidewalks. We anticipate this project will be completed by late-August provided further unforeseen situations are not encountered.

The city’s reply goes on to say that “due to unforeseen conflicts with underground infrastructure, construction was temporarily paused on May 29 to allow for the required design revisions. The conflicts, which included hydro, gas and communication utilities, have now been resolved and the contractor resumed work on June 27.”

If work resumed on June 27, the contractor is being very sneaky about it, as if they don’t want anyone to know.