That crazy construction corner Bayview Ave. and Eglinton Ave. saw a pedestrian struck in a mid-afternoon accident Friday. The report from Toronto Police Operations (TPS Ops) says she was elderly and sustained a leg injury. The conditions at this corner may be unavoidable but they are exceedingly tricky for pedestrians. Here is a current picture of the mess taken by Bob Arsenault.
A chance missed
Here are the names of the 25 stations to be built along the Eglinton Crosstown LRT as released by Metrolinx today after sometimes rancorous discussion about whether they really fit the nature of the locations. A notable issue was the need to prevent confusing duplication between LRT names and those already in use on the Bloor-Danforth line. The station at Yonge Street will take the name Eglinton because that’s what it is upstairs for the Yonge (#1) subway line and a great opportunity has been missed not to install the name Cowbell downstairs where the LRT will pass. Cowbell would remember the farm people who trod the laneway nearby and evoke Toronto’s pre-transit mental state.
Bayview Avenue was blocked to northbound traffic between Soudan Ave and Eglinton Ave. Friday afternoon because of a collision. Bus traffic was diverted along Millwood and up Cleveland to Eglinton. The road reopened about 4 p.m.
Dr. Kathleen Healey
A resin called Styrene-acrylonitrile being used in LRT construction is causing a foul smell along Eglinton Ave. west of Bayview Ave. Jen Murray of the Insight Naturopathic Clinic said it smells like a “giant permanent marker had exploded.” The resin is used to strengthen sewer pipes as tunneling work proceeds underground. In everyday life, it is used to protect things like food containers, kitchenware, computer products, packaging material, battery cases and plastic optical fibers. It is said to make many things resistant even to boiling water Dr. Kathleen Healey at 543 Eglinton said she and her assistant have been “sickened” by the smell. But Dr. Healy seemed most annoyed that Metrolinx, the Ontario agency in charge of construction, could not tell her and her associates what it was.
Mac’s in the Sunnybrook Plaza is closing. The convulsion in neighborhood life caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, and by the ripple effect of development, is causing many changes and this is just one. The Mac’s has less than a year left on its lease and the chain’s owner, Couche Tarde of Montreal, must figure there is no point in hanging in for whatever life is left in the old retail plaza. The owner of Sunnybrook, Rio.Can, intends to redevelop the corner and its mega-project two tower proposal (19 and 13 floors) is now at the Ontario Municipal Board. This means there will probably be construction at this location in as little as 18 months. Many locals will be sorry to see Mac’s go. Bob and Judy Arsenault were saying it is a handy stop for them when they step out of their nearby condominium. The official closing date is Thursday, January 14, 2016. We can look forward to increasing vacancies at the old Sunnybrook, a neighborhood landmark built in 1952 and said to be the first strip mall in Canada. Residents launch informed attack on Sunnybrook Plaza plan
A car smashed through the front of the York TAPS store in Sunnybrook Plaza this morning (Saturday, January 2, 2015) It is apparently another case of a driver who thought the vehicle was in reverse. Police say no one was hurt. A similar accident in August 2013 injured a pedestrian who happened to be in front of the Rexall Pharmacy when a driver did much the same thing. (Picture below) As a result, Rexall has planted several concrete posts in front of the store.
The miserable weather has slowed traffic to very nearly a stop through Eglinton Ave. East and Bayview Ave. Monday night and early Tuesday. According to Toronto Police Operations (TPS Ops) the large vehicles are sliding on icy roads and are stuck on the Eglinton hill. The buses are unable to turn around.
Construction “boulevard” in centre of Eglinton Ave. E. Photo: Bob Arsenault
The traffic accident at Eglinton Ave. and Banff Rd. tonight reminds us that the wild and crazy conditions existing at Eglinton and Bayview Ave have extended west. Metrolinx has constructed a huge “boulevard” down the centre of Eglinton between Bayview and Banff. This prevents all left turns onto Cleveland, Hoyle and Mann. So there is a lot of action centred on Banff and Eglinton where the accident occurred about 7 p.m. Tonight’s little smash-up required the detour of several TTC bus routes down Banff, east on Soudan and then north on Cleveland to avoid the obstruction.
Eric Scott was on the spot when a Toronto garbage truck backed into a 34 Eglinton bus at Eglinton East and Brownlow Ave. That’s Eglinton Public School across the street. It was messy but there were no reports of serious injuries.
It takes a brave pedestrian to venture onto the broken and patched sidewalk on the north side of Eglinton Ave E between Donlea Drive and Hanna Rd.
The tumultuous corner of Eglinton Ave. E and Bayview Ave continues to be just that way. The beat goes on. The McDonald’s is gone but on the upside it is now much easier to get in and out of Metro. All that digging in the grocery parking lot last week was about removing the funny little lanes that used to slow things down so much when you went in there. There is still repaving happening outside the front door. Metro also has placed a sign board on the corner advertising a new Peller Estates Wine store inside.
WYNNE-A-BEER?
This has nothing to do with the Wynne-a-Beer project of the local MPP. Peller is part of a wine mammoth which somehow got itself endowed with the right to open retail stores all over the province, unlike other Ontario vintners. Also in the Metro lot, Tosto Quickfire Pasta Pizza is forging ahead with plans to open at the designated address of 609 Roehampton Ave. There is a sign in the window saying they are hiring. Kittycorner is the lifeless McDonald’s, except for the boys carting out bit and pieces.
SAY GOODBYE TO HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES
Big Mac himself has already taken the stoves and other useful stuff to storage. It is sad for some because as @idcvannessa said on Twitter: “Someone say goodbye to my high school memories.” Across the street is the Mac’s. It will soon become a Circle K (Yee Haw Leaside). This is because the owner of Mac’s Couche Tarde (Night Owl) had a funny daydream to re-brand all the Mac’s. Jeez. Why don’t they try sleeping at night? Down the walk at Sunnybrook is Gentry Menswear where the owner has announced his retirement. Reasonably, the sale will go on until Christmas. Nice clothes though.
They took down the McDonald’s signs at Bayview Ave and Eglinton Ave. E. yesterday and now the restaurant is dark as workers take it apart in preparation for demolition. It will become the Bayview LRT station, at least at street level. Concern for just what the province will do to try to recoup money by way of a condominium tower or other type of development on the site is unknown. The province, as we know, can do whatever it wants.
