Unwin Ave - Undriveable

[hawc]

Called 311 yesterday to report that all of Unwin Ave from Cherry east to the Hearn is basically undriveable.

Huge, enormous potholes so big they would swallow your entire wheel right up to the axle all over the place. You have to constantly swerved back and for forth across the entire road to avoid them.

I suppose a dump truck or cement truck could hit them and survive, but anything smaller would rip their wheel right off.

And if the pot holes don't catch you then the tracks at the end (in red dashes) are not longer in the road, they now sit a full 5 or 6 inches above what used to be the road making it like as if you just drove straight at a set of railway tracks.

It's totally and completely nuts.

The nice lady on 311 couldn't help with anything and just kept saying, "I'm just trying to find which intersection you're talking about..." And i was like, "No ALLLLLLL of Unwin is f*cked!"

 

[DSCToronto]

Called 311 yesterday to report that all of Unwin Ave from Cherry east to the Hearn is basically undriveable.

Huge, enormous potholes so big they would swallow your entire wheel right up to the axle all over the place. You have to constantly swerved back and for forth across the entire road to avoid them.

I suppose a dump truck or cement truck could hit them and survive, but anything smaller would rip their wheel right off.

And if the pot holes don't catch you then the tracks at the end (in red dashes) are not longer in the road, they now sit a full 5 or 6 inches above what used to be the road making it like as if you just drove straight at a set of railway tracks.

It's totally and completely nuts.

The nice lady on 311 couldn't help with anything and just kept saying, "I'm just trying to find which intersection you're talking about..." And i was like, "No ALLLLLLL of Unwin is f*cked!"

View attachment 711001

I (foolishly) biked along it last summer when the Martin Goodman was closed and agree it is a mess. At one time the City had plans to bring & upgrade the sewers and water all along Unwin but this is not in the current TOInView. The PortLands rail spur is also disconnected so they really ought to be forced to remove the rails (at least where the line crosses Unwin @ the Hearne. Your favourite Councillor, Fletcher, is the one to contact! The City ARE planning to replace the bridge https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-254868.pdf

 

[urbanclient]

Called 311 yesterday to report that all of Unwin Ave from Cherry east to the Hearn is basically undriveable.

Huge, enormous potholes so big they would swallow your entire wheel right up to the axle all over the place. You have to constantly swerved back and for forth across the entire road to avoid them.

I suppose a dump truck or cement truck could hit them and survive, but anything smaller would rip their wheel right off.

And if the pot holes don't catch you then the tracks at the end (in red dashes) are not longer in the road, they now sit a full 5 or 6 inches above what used to be the road making it like as if you just drove straight at a set of railway tracks.

It's totally and completely nuts.

The nice lady on 311 couldn't help with anything and just kept saying, "I'm just trying to find which intersection you're talking about..." And i was like, "No ALLLLLLL of Unwin is f*cked!"

View attachment 711001

That's why I drive my trusty ol' lifted Ford F-150. So I can roll coal on plebs gingerly driving around potholes. /s

 

[hawc]

Can the wheels of an F-150 handle those huge potholes, or is it borderline dangerous even for a truck?

 

[Northern Light]

I (foolishly) biked along it last summer when the Martin Goodman was closed and agree it is a mess. At one time the City had plans to bring & upgrade the sewers and water all along Unwin but this is not in the current TOInView. The PortLands rail spur is also disconnected so they really ought to be forced to remove the rails (at least where the line crosses Unwin @ the Hearne. Your favourite Councillor, Fletcher, is the one to contact! The City ARE planning to replace the bridge https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2025/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-254868.pdf

I looked through the info to which I have access, I see sewer work in 2028/29 but only in the eastern section near Leslie.

I show absolutely no work on the western (main) leg of Unwin from now through the mid 2030s.

 

[Northern Light]

@hawc if you want to take point on getting this addressed.

This is what you need to ask for 'Critical Interim Repairs'

You want to specifically drop in to your email, "The City is at risk of significant liability for property damage and personal injury liability"

Send that to the Councillor, copy the Mayor (cc) and also the head of City Transportation. I'll send you that last contact in a DM

 

[hawc]

Thanks Norther Light. I'll follow up for sure.

 

[nfitz]

Unwin has been notorious for a long time. The city is loathe to do anything serious, with the realignment plans. I'd have thought the best option for the bailey bridge is to simply close it, and for people to drive around.

I don't find it that hard to drive at the 50 km/hr limit with a $20K Civic, if you avoid a couple of spots; the absurd slow speed I see SVU drivers going is hilarious - those things must be very poor off road.

And yet they decided this summer to completely rebuild Regatta Road - so you can now do the 50 km/hr speed limit there too ... which is just silly; why there's no speed limit?

 

[DSCToronto]

Unwin has been notorious for a long time. The city is loathe to do anything serious, with the realignment plans. I'd have thought the best option for the bailey bridge is to simply close it, and for people to drive around.

I don't find it that hard to drive at the 50 km/hr limit with a $20K Civic, if you avoid a couple of spots; the absurd slow speed I see SVU drivers going is hilarious - those things must be very poor off road.

And yet they decided this summer to completely rebuild Regatta Road - so you can now do the 50 km/hr speed limit there too ... which is just silly; why there's no speed limit?

Yes, having Regatta Road beautifully resurfaced did seem a bit odd to me too!

 

[turbanplanner]

Unwin has been notorious for a long time. The city is loathe to do anything serious, with the realignment plans. I'd have thought the best option for the bailey bridge is to simply close it, and for people to drive around.

I don't find it that hard to drive at the 50 km/hr limit with a $20K Civic, if you avoid a couple of spots; the absurd slow speed I see SVU drivers going is hilarious - those things must be very poor off road.

And yet they decided this summer to completely rebuild Regatta Road - so you can now do the 50 km/hr speed limit there too ... which is just silly; why there's no speed limit?

Isn't the limit 20?

 

[nfitz]

Isn't the limit 20?

I drove that many times this summer, and looked and looked for signage, and didn't see any. I don't think I drove it in 2023 though.

I don't recall a need to yield to oncoming traffic either! I don't think that's Regatta Road. Is that the signage for the one-lane bridge on Unwin that they've had to close more than once because it's near failure?? Yeah, the bridge is 20 km/hr.

Unwin is 50 km/hr - as demonstrated by the (failed) 2015 council motion to reduce most streets to 30 km/hr (but leave Unwin at 50 km/hr). https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2015.TE11.72

 

[turbanplanner]

I drove that many times this summer, and looked and looked for signage, and didn't see any. I don't think I drove it in 2023 though.

I don't recall a need to yield to oncoming traffic either! I don't think that's Regatta Road. Is that the signage for the one-lane bridge on Unwin that they've had to close more than once because it's near failure?? Yeah, the bridge is 20 km/hr.

Unwin is 50 km/hr - as demonstrated by the (failed) 2015 council motion to reduce most streets to 30 km/hr (but leave Unwin at 50 km/hr). https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2015.TE11.72

View attachment 711213

Thanks! I always kept the speed down there just in case but now I feel silly lmao

 

[NW87]

Yeah this road is definitely one of the worst and another is Basin St. but that's a dead end and full of squatters in mobile trailers.

 

[DSCToronto]

Yeah this road is definitely one of the worst and another is Basin St. but that's a dead end and full of squatters in mobile trailers.

Yes, Basin Street is in the middle of a regeneration area' and if/when the Media Hub takes off it will be fixed. In fact, the City repaved Bouchette Street last fall (the street you need to use to get to/from Basin). Unwin is an actual through road and really is a mess. I realise it first needs new (or first-time) sewers and water and probably utility work but ......

 

[junctionist]

There are side streets in the Stockyards area that are similar, like the east end of Ryding Avenue and West Toronto Street--seemingly removed from all regular city resurfacing and reconstruction schedules.

The street view imagery captures them at their best, after at least 6 months of 311 complaints and pothole patching. But they often look like war zones in the winter, too, because the pavement is a patchwork of repairs that crumbles during freeze-thaw cycles. The city seemingly takes the tax money that the area generates and spends it elsewhere, which is quite unfortunate. The roads should be regularly resurfaced.