The South Bayview Bulldog

A motorcyclist and a pedestrian are in Sunnybrook Hospital tonight after an incident of pure mayhem at the corner of Yonge St. and Pleasant Blvd this evening. It happened about 5.30 p.m. as three motorcycles were seen speeding north on Yonge from Rosehill Ave. A motorist who saw the motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic said he knew they were “an accident about to happen.” His perception was all too accurate. One of the lane-changing bikes was clipped by a southbound BMW (photo centre) turning left at Pleasant. Police speculate the 75-year-old driver had no idea that the motorcycle would appear out of nowhere in front of his car. The motorcycle was hurled onto the east sidewalk of Yonge Street (photo top) where it injured a woman pedestrian. She is 67 ears old.. The cyclist, aged 29, was also badly hurt. Police said one of the other motorcycles stopped but the third fled the scene. The intersection is one block south of Yonge and St.Clair. Yonge is closed between St. Clair and Rosehill.  A woman who witnessed the accident (photo bottom) said the motorcycle seemed to fly to pieces. It landed many feet north of the rider and the pedestrian.  She and her friend ran to try to assist the bleeding pedestrian. She is reported to have head injuries. The rider appeared to have broken legs this witness said. Other witnesses said they think the motorcycles were traveling at “twice the speed limit.”

The old Postal Station R, now known as 2 Laird Drive or site of the new Upper House Condominium, has been painted a strange whitewash white. The red-brick building is slated for demolition as soon as an application finally emerges from the Ontario Municipal Board. The developer, Knightstone Capital, has approval to build to a height of seven storeys, the top level said to be a mechanical room. So why the white paint job?  Some think the old post office will soon blossom with signs and become a sales and presentation site. It’s our best guess. 

The U.S. home building publication BuzzBuzz has published pictures of the model suite at the Towns of Rumsey. This five town home development is nearing completion at the corner of Millwood Rd. and Rumsey Rd. In December The South Bayview Bulldog described the interesting alternative form of construction used in the project. The Towns of Rumsey have been being built by the Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) method. As explained by Don MacDonald of South Hill Homes here in Toronto the concept provides extra solidity to the home plus considerable improvement in heating and acoustical insulation. ICF building features pre-formed interlocking wall sections which create a cavity between them into which concrete is then poured. Neighbors were certainly curious about the concrete being poured into wall forms that extended to the upper floors of the town homes. The forms remain in place as part of the structure over the cured concrete and are typically finished in brick on the outside. Inside, the forms are cut and shaped as needed to accept electrical and plumbing lines. When the utilities are fully installed, the interior walls are finished in the normal fashion and decorated. This alternative method of home construction found its beginning in post-war Europe as a quick way of re-building the vast areas of bombed-out housing.  BuzzBuzz 

City Council stopped short of making customers report to their local councillor within 15 days as to just what they had for lunch. Seriously, there were 20 separate motions over two days  including an attempt to keep the trucks a measurable distance from the curb. What did pass? So far as one can sift through the materials we see a requirement for a limit of two trucks per block and a buffer zone of no less than 50 metres between a truck and a restaurant. Business Improvement Areas will have a lot of say in where trucks may sit. Josh Matlow (Ward 22) says in his newsletter that many concerns were not based on evidence. “While there certainly will be more mobile vendors on the streets in new locations this summer, I believe Council could have gone even further to free the food trucks,” Matlow said. He is more likely to hear about the trucks from his constituents than Karen Stintz, John Parker or Jaye Robinson, for example. The decisive vote was 34 to 3 to adopt the expanded rules. Eight members were absent for the 6.10 p.m. division Thursday night. Only Denzil Minnan-Wong, David Shiner, Adam Vaughan voted “No” and it isn’t clear what these gentlemen of varying political sympathies were concerned about.  The subject will be reviewed next year Council decided.