I used to own a jeep. After a couple of years of using it on Eglinton Avenue, the jeep’s suspension cracked. Potholes, cracks, bumps. The avenue was more like a logging road than our main street. But overnight, it changed. Literally.
The City sent out a notice in the mail promising to finish repairing and resurfacing Eglinton Avenue. It said it would do most of the work overnight to minimize disruption.
At first, it wasn’t good.
Night traffic was the worst it’s been in a while. During the day we had to swerve around unmarked, raised manholes, and other obstacles jutting out of the street.
But things were happening.
A road machine the size of three war tanks was being used to pave Eglinton. Men and women in white construction hats were guiding the beast, others were smoothing out the asphalt behind it. I was stuck in traffic behind a bus in Little Jamaica, but it was fascinating to watch.
I doubted that Eglinton would be complete anytime soon. The next day, Eglinton Avenue West was flat, black and smooth. I didn’t believe it. So I rode around Eglinton and Dufferin and to the heart of Little Jamaica to see if it was truly complete.
Lo and behold.
After waiting more than a decade, and one jeep later, I can share this bit of good news for Eglinton Avenue West.
It’s done. And bulk of it only took one night.
Our avenue is no longer the logging road it used to be. Overnight it seems, the City finished the job. The City kept its word.
I wonder what changed, and why this couldn’t have been so much sooner.
But I’ll take this win today.
