Jack Lakey

Nov 12, 2024 | thestar.com | Jack Lakey

There are few worse places for a portable toilet — for pedestrians and those who need to use it — than on a busy sidewalk, right next to an entrance to a TTC station. Entrances to stations along the TTC’s Yonge Street subway line are typically bustling places, and even more so when nearby schools draw a crowd of kids and parents. So it’s puzzling why an outhouse was located on the sidewalk right outside the Ranleigh Avenue entrance to the Lawrence TTC station, on Yonge, north of Lawrence Avenue.

Nov 2, 2024 | thestar.com | Jack Lakey

Toronto Animal Services is too much talk and not enough action when it comes to picking up dead critters. The standard for collecting animal cadavers reported to the city was set for many years at 48 hours, 80 per cent of the time. But it consistently lagged far behind that goal, so Animal Services moved the goalposts last March, setting a new standard of five days.

Oct 24, 2024 | thestar.com | Jack Lakey

When a fully loaded mixer truck burps cement, it can make a bumpy mess on the road that won’t disappear until it is ground into dust or chipped away. For evidence, look no further than Castle Frank Road, at the point where it meets Bloor Street East. Copious amounts of hardened cement have for years been plastered across the road and it’s gotten worse over time.

Oct 11, 2024 | thestar.com | Jack Lakey

It’s all too easy to dump on the city and its politicians and staffers for the many things that they get wrong and need fixing around here. So it is only fair we recognize when they get it right and give credit where credit is due. Let’s start with one of the biggest bus knuckles I’ve ever seen, at a TTC stop in the westbound curb lane of Kingston Road, just west of Cromwell Road, the subject of my Aug. 14 column.

May 29, 2024 | thestar.com | Jack Lakey

If the TTC doesn’t soon get cracking on reversing the rust along the St. Clair Avenue streetcar right-of-way, things could go off the rails. OK, maybe that’s a bit dramatic. But just the same, the steady advance of rust at the bottom of the pedestrian hand rails at stops along the streetcar route is in urgent need of remediation. Already a Subscriber?