Why a sidewalk crack on Dundas West could be the tip of a city-wide problem

There's big trouble in Little Portugal.

Residents of Dundas Street West, near Brock Street, say a broken patch of sidewalk is causing headaches for pedestrians.

The broken, heaved and unevenly repaired sidewalk is only about two metres long. But so far it's tripped up at least five pedestrians, the local Little Portugal Toronto Business Improvement Area says, some of whom have suffered injuries that required hospital care.

According to the BIA, repeated calls to the city to have the sidewalk permanently fixed have not solved the problem.

"We're very concerned," the BIA's community liaison person, Anah Shabbar, told CBC Toronto. "It's affecting mostly our most vulnerable people physically in the neighbourhood. And also we do have a big festival coming up in June, our Do West Fest, which last year drew half a million people, so there's going to be people on the sidewalks, and we just want to get it fixed as soon as possible."

The problems began last November, when city workers investigating sewer problems at 1580 Dundas St. W. discovered a large sinkhole, caused in part by leaky pipes that ran under the sidewalk.

The damage required Toronto Water to dig up part of the road and sidewalk, and repairs were done quickly, in order to give shoppers access to the area as soon as possible during the busy Christmas season.

But the temporary patches to the sidewalk left something to be desired, according to local councillor Alejandra Bravo.

"The important thing is when you do a job is that you have to do it right down to the last detail, and that hasn't happened in this situation," she said. "People have been harmed."

She didn't have a count of the number of complaints her office has received, but city staff say two 311 complaints have been received about the tripping hazard — among thousands of damaged, trip-inducing sidewalks that are causing pedestrians headaches city-wide.

"There's just like a long list of repairs that need to be done throughout Toronto, and this is just one on a major list," she said.

"In the best of all possible worlds, I would love to see the city fix this sidewalk here, as well as a few others throughout our BIA."

In 2020, the city received, staff say, 3,030 complaints about sidewalks that needed repairs. That number jumped to 3,601 in 2021 and to 4,208 in 2022.

One day after CBC Toronto called city staff, another temporary asphalt patch appeared over the damaged sidewalk, Shabbar said.

According to Bravo, a permanent repair includes replacing the asphalt patches with smooth concrete.

And those permanent repairs can't come soon enough for local pedestrians like David Acacia.

"I almost tripped over the crack on my way here ... my toe got caught on a groove," he said. "You wonder how long it's going to take."

If there's a silver lining to this story, Bravo said it's the accelerated repair schedule she's seen.

She said she was originally warned that permanent repairs could take up to two years, but she's since been told the fix will happen during this coming construction season, which coincides with warmer weather.