You have to wonder about the decision-making of the people in charge, when new utility poles are put up in the middle of a sidewalk.

For years, Toronto Hydro has been replacing aging utility poles across the city, a process that usually involves putting up new ones right next to the old ones, and then chopping off the decommissioned poles.

But too often, the sawed-off poles remain for months or even years before they’re removed, resulting in lots of complaints to us about the street clutter created by the old stumps.

Linda Liontis sent us a link to a list of “municipal consent requirements” for installing stuff on city streets, which says that when poles are replaced, the old one are supposed to be removed within 12 months.

Fat chance. We know of locations where poles were replaced at least two years ago, but the decapitated old ones are still there.

So it should be no surprise when new ones are installed in questionable locations.

Brian Bjolin sent us a photo of a chopped-off concrete pole on tiny Hazel Ave., just two blocks long, standing next to a recently installed wooded replacement pole.

Lots of poles in his Beaches neighbourhood were replaced last summer, said Bjolin, while the leftovers of the old ones were marked for removal with fluorescent paint.

“And if putting the new pole smack in the middle of the sidewalk wasn’t enough, this weekend saw a new sidewalk section poured, beautifully framing both the new pole and the metre-high remnant of its predecessor.

“As the kids say, WTF?”

We went there and found not just the ones in Bjolin’s photo, but a half-dozen old poles still standing next to their replacements in the sidewalk that runs along the north side of the two-block-long street.

WTF indeed.

STATUS: It took a while, but Toronto Hydro sent us detailed response explaining the challenges in replacing 50-year-old poles where space is tight. The sidewalk itself is only about one metre wide, far less than the minimum in the accessibility guidelines, said spokesperson Tori Gass. The municipal road allowance does not extend into the yards of homes adjacent to the sidewalk, which is the case on most streets, so Hydro didn’t have the option of installing the poles along the inner edge of the sidewalk. Underground water and gas lines added to the difficulty, said Gass, adding that “there are no options available to avoid poles in the sidewalk unless they are put in someone’s front lawns or in the narrow, two-lane roadway.” The job was halted last March after local residents voiced concerns. “Since then we’ve been working with the community — including an on-site meeting — as well as with the city’s public realm and transportation departments, contractors and the local councillor’s office, to discuss concerns and offer solutions to this complicated and fairly unique problem. Following these discussions, it has been proposed that the new wooden poles be moved to the inside of the sidewalk to minimize disruption to pedestrians. We’re currently in the process of getting this approved as it’s a non-standard solution.” Gass added that the working on removing the old poles, but three still have third-party equipment attached to them.

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