casita
Senior Member
The potholes have been replaced by speed bumps.
TORONTO, ON - A dozen speed bumps along Toronto's tony Bridle Path and Post Rd. are delaying critically sick or injured patients from reaching Sunnybrook hospital, say paramedics and residents in the Don Mills area. Homeowners along the mansion-lined Bridle Path thoroughfare insist the bumps are needed to control traffic and reduce speeding. For seven years the issue has simmered, but now ambulance, fire and transit officials are lining up with residents' groups in the Don Mills area in a campaign to "dump the bumps." It's a battle that pits concerns over emergency response times for thousands against safety and tranquility in one of the city's most exclusive neighbourhoods. "We were told the rich and powerful people live in that area and they get what they want so we're told to avoid it," he says. "But if you're dealing with a critical patient where, honestly, seconds do make the difference, you're forced not to take that route. ... In an ambulance, if you hit (the bumps) hard, you can actually lift the patient right off the stretcher." Most often, paramedics avoid the route by taking a more circuitous path south on Leslie St., across Eglinton Ave. E. and up Bayview Ave. That route is about 1.5 kilometres longer and has 10 intersections with traffic lights. The Bridle Path/Post Rd. route has only four lights and two stop signs. The detour adds, on average, about five minutes
