Bus knuckles are a pox on our roads, until the city designates the worst as dangerous and repeat offenders.

Only then do they get preferential treatment, with the pavement removed and a concrete pad as long as a TTC bus installed to make sure they never return to throw motorcycle riders or cyclists for a loop.

We’ve often written about the gnarly ridges at many TTC bus stops, formed by the wheels of buses that constantly stop in exactly the same place, causing the pavement under them to sink.

Over time, the area between the wheels rises, creating a ridge that looks like a knuckle and is hard for two-wheeled travelers to see until they’re right on top of it.

We were again reminded of the peril when we got an email recently about knuckles on Bathurst St., north of Eglinton Ave.

A reader said they’re “the worst hazard for bikes, and maybe motorcycles,” describing how she watched as a motorcycle rider was tossed to the pavement after hitting a knuckle.

”Two of us were riding (bikes) down Bathurst, very aware of these, and I was telling my partner to watch out for them,” she explained.

“We slowed down, angering a few cars behind us, and even a motorcyclist who then sped up to overtake us and hit one himself and went down, sliding for many yards just feet in front of us.

“His motorcycle was smashed and I suspect there were some injuries, but he lived.

“You don't see them for they are the same colour as the asphalt, but obviously they are very dangerous. It’s one reason we travel a bit slower and keep our eyes on the asphalt at all times.”

With approximately 10,200 bus bays in Toronto, the potential for knuckles is huge. The quick fix for most is to use a machine to grind off the ridge, but they usually return where bus and truck traffic is heaviest.

In locations where knuckles keep coming back, the city sometimes removes the asphalt and road bed beneath it, installing a concrete pad that won’t buckle from the weight of buses constantly stopping in the same place.

Hector Moreno, a city manager of road operations, said that “for the most part the (bus bays) are performing really well,” but there are some spots where grinding the knuckles off is not enough.

“One solution is to build road infrastructure that can withstand the volume of buses. The city has built concrete bus pads (e.g. Wilson Ave., Bathurst St., Dufferin St., Finch Ave., etc.) in some areas,” he said, but it’s not cheap.

As part of preventative maintenance, 100 to 150 bus bays that show the worst knuckles are rehabilitated each year, with the most expensive treatment — a full concrete pad — costing $25,000, he said.

Less expensive treatments, such as “flexible pavement,” which involves a second layer of asphalt that replaces a regular road bed, can be done for about $15,000, said Moreno.

In between is “composite pavement,” where the road bed is replaced with a layer of concrete and topped with asphalt, which usually does the trick in all but the worst locations, he said.

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But arterial roads where bus and truck traffic is particularly heavy usually qualify for a full concrete pad, he said, adding they last much longer than standard asphalt.

“We continue to be proactive and try to respond to complaints from the public,” said Moreno. “If you know of a problem, call 311 and we’ll get it on the list.”