If you had to drive along Richmond in downtown Toronto last week, you know what kind of nightmare that turned out to be.
First, NEWSTALK 1010 learned that three lanes had been reduced down to one at Peter, because of emergency sewer replacement.
That was needed when a construction company allegedly dumped either concrete or grout down the drain, causing a blockage. 45 meters of pipe needed to be replaced at a cost of upt to $120,000. The city is going to try and pinpoint the company responsible and make them pay for the cost of the replacement.
The second issue happened on Thursday afternoon, during the start of rush hour, when a construction company closed off one lane east of Duncan, to finish a small paving project.
The Entera Utility crew dusrupted the already bumper-to-bumper traffic, while they laid asphalt to repair the hole they'd created during construction.
What's interesting here, is that the company had been at this location for several weeks, and did all of the other work overnight, not affecting any traffic.
The city responded to NEWSTALK 1010's request in an email:
"Transportation investigated the reported closure by Enterra Utility. They do not have permission from the City to work during the p.m. rush hour. City staff are following up with them to ensure that this does not occur again."
But they couldn't say whether or not the company would be fined.