Poor Road Patch Job - Who To Contact?

[hawc]

There are many experts and connected people on here, so I'd love some advice on who best to contact regarding roads that have been patched poorly after they've been dug up for utility work.

I know some people will think this is silly whining, but it really drives me nuts when a freshly paved road is ripped up and then patched haphazardly or poorly. I know road have to be dug up and I don't have a problem with that. My issue is when the patch job is lazy and then we're left with that bad patch job for years, decades even before it's repaved.

It bugs me even more because most roads are patched up really well. And that's why it's so frustrating when a crew is thoughtless enough to do it so poorly.

Is it a simple 311 call? Or is there a different channel I should be going through?

The most recent road in question is Avenue road immediately north of Bloor by the Park Hyatt. The southbound lanes were just repaved a few years ago and were recently patched up incredibly poorly. No professionalism put into it at all.

Who can I contact in this case? Who can I contact in general for other cases?

Any help on this matter from people who know is much appreciated.

 

[CharmAlarm]

311 would be a good start or email the local councillor; one of their assistants could give you some answers.

 

[44 North]

I'd say start photographing some of these bad patches, catalogue them, and perhaps organize them in a way that shows whether it's on a sidewalk, road, or private property. And if visible try to include the colour of spray paint or symbols written on the pavement nearby. If you've seen deterioration of these bad patches over time, perhaps add in a before/after. Then post a collage of this on Reddit or something. If it's newsworthy (which it is), the news will pick it up and write about it.

Sometimes there are poor patch jobs for utility cuts, or emergency road work. Other times what can look like poor patch job can actually be a sign of something worse (e.g surface undermining where the patch actually crumbles through the ground into the sewer or subway tunnel below).

 

[hawc]

That's an interesting idea. But surely there's a more efficient, proper channel, rather than making a scrap book of bad patch jobs, posting it on reddit and hoping the media might pick it up. Surely that's not how things get fixed in this town.

 

[44 North]

I guess I assumed it was common knowledge, but the proper channel is to call *311. Make a report, they'll forward it to the proper service (probably City's Transportation Dept), and they'll send a field investigator out the next day. If it's a City issue, they'll have it patched that day or the next.

The City actually wants people to do this (prevents future liability if someone trips). They have people doing inspections of our roads and sidewalks, but it's easy to miss things. And most of the public simply ignores hazards like rutted patches. So calling *311 is doing the City a favour in many cases.

 

[Tuscani01]

You should see the patch job on Don Mills just north of Eglinton. They patched a long strip through the centre lane and it feels like it was flattened by foot instead of steam roller. It's ridiculously bumpy for a brand new patch of asphalt, and nearly stretches from Wynford all the way down to Eglinton.

In this case, im sure the entire road will be repaved once Don Mills station is built... but in the meantime, was it really that hard to compact the asphalt evenly?

 

[muller877]

There are many experts and connected people on here, so I'd love some advice on who best to contact regarding roads that have been patched poorly after they've been dug up for utility work.
.

What gets me is why Toronto has not invested in a patching/pothole machine. You see 3-5 guys trying to patch one hole when there are a bunch of machines out there that costs $300k that needs one guy, its quicker and it lasts longer.

Utility work in the winter is tough. It's hard/impossible to compress the gravel in a way that will not heave in the spring. But then they don't fix it in May but wait to August is what get's me.