City workers conduct Toronto's first-ever sidewalk maintenance blitz

Toronto city staff repair a sidewalk in Mount Pleasant. (Ivan Arsovski/CBC - image credit)
Toronto city staff repair a sidewalk in Mount Pleasant. (Ivan Arsovski/CBC - image credit)

City of Toronto crews are fanning out across the municipality Saturday for the city's first-ever sidewalk maintenance blitz in an effort to improve pedestrian safety.

More than a hundred workers, forming 44 crews, will identify damage and conduct as many repairs as they can during a 12-hour shift from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the city said in a media bulletin Friday.

"City inspectors continually assess Toronto's entire sidewalk network, identifying damage and other hazards, and generating work orders for repair," the city said.

"[Saturday's] blitz will include conducting proactive inspections and completing work orders and 311 Service Requests for sidewalk repairs."

The city said staff will either make permanent repairs using a concrete grinder or temporary repairs with asphalt, which will then be tracked and permanently repaired at a later date.

Between 6,000 to 7,000 locations have already been identified for repairs, according to city spokesperson Laura McQuilllan.