A mysterious metal object that was for years a tripping hazard on a North York street has taken its leave, and none too soon.

In August, I reported on a square metal thingy in the sidewalk at the southeast corner of Senlac Road and Hounslow Avenue, perfectly positioned to snag the foot of an unsuspecting pedestrian.

Over many years of getting things fixed, I’ve seen just about everything. But I couldn’t recall coming across anything like this particular object, had no idea what it was and said so.

Reader Brian Jones sent us a note soon after our column, saying it was the natural gas equivalent of a water box valve, used to turn service on or off to individual homes.

“Rule of thumb: Water box valves are round, gas box valves are square,” he said.

I went back a couple weeks later and found that the gas valve had been removed and replaced with an asphalt patch.

An earlier column in August was about a guard rail that had been smashed by an out-of-control vehicle, at the southeast corner of Eglinton Avenue West and Winona Drive, and was leaning partway across the sidewalk on Winona.

Aiden O’Leary, who told us about it, said there’s a seniors building at that corner, and that the heavy traffic on Eglinton makes it hair-raising for older people to cross the street.

We also found a second damaged guard rail at the same corner. The city said they fixed that one right away, and the other one would be repaired soon after.

O’Leary emailed again last week, saying it was fixed. “Sincere thanks for your intervention. Eglinton and Winona is now a safer place for us seniors.”

In yet another August column, I wrote about how the curb lane on eastbound Queen Street, just east of Logan Avenue, had been closed to traffic for at least a year, to make room for construction of a new condo building.

The work finished months ago but the lane remained closed, mainly because of two temporary utility poles that were sunk into the pavement and had yet to be removed.

Transportation services spokesperson Eric Holmes emailed last week to say the poles had just been removed and the lane would be reopened to traffic right away.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...