vatche said:
Is that in the new section?
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It is at the south-west corner of Avenue Rd. & Bloor.

Yes, there are several other spots that are breaking. There is a driveway just west of 2 Bloor St W. where the slabs are very cracked.
 
philofra said:
It is at the south-west corner of Avenue Rd. & Bloor.

Yes, there are several other spots that are breaking. There is a driveway just west of 2 Bloor St W. where the slabs are very cracked.
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Yep that's what I was referring too.
 
yonderbean said:
A friend of mine and student of Sam Benvie, Ryerson Professor of the Landscape Design and a tree expert, thought it very silly that london plane trees were planted along Bloor. The species graces many European avenues, and thus has cache, however its ill-suited to our climate, especially on a street with a lot of shadowing like Bloor. He said there would be a very high mortality rate and wished they'd gone with a more sensible native species that wouldn't need frequent replacement. Looks like he knew what he was talking about.
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I got clarification of Benvie's objection to the london plane tree's use along Bloor - apparently it was not so much a matter of climate but one of insufficient water. Plane trees grow natively in flood planes, so they require ample water in the spring. The reasoning went that trucking in water and using those drip-bags was in his opinion insufficient and would lead to a high mortality rate among the trees.
 
let's hope the trees get replanted and properly water or replanted with more appropriate trees. As for the cracking of the new sidewalks, I can't help but wonder if that is also due to weather related - cold in the winter; warm in summer; moister retention. We used to have a type of stone on the front steps of our townhouse development (I think limestone but not sure) and every spring there would cracks or loose peices and peices would have to be replaced, It became such a pain and cost we finally went with concrete that was meant to look like stone and now there is no problem. I loved the Bloor revitalization and i think its important project to keep the street vibrant and attract businesses. I hope they find solutions and keep things up to par.
 
Re the trees, I asked Cllr Wong-Tam who replied that "replacement trees were selected last fall and weather permitting they will be planted this week."
 
The cracking only seems to happen where cars are present. There is the entrance to the alley at Holt's, and the picture of an asphalt patch job posted earlier was at the corner of Avenue and Bloor. The affected curb piece, flush with the pavement, could have been cracked by a car making the tight corner from southbound Avenue to westbound Bloor.
 
No trees have been replaced yet east of Yonge, it makes more sense to do it once the tulips are done. Once they are done would be the right time to replace the trees in between changing out the flower beds.
I walked Bloor over to Queen's Park today, almost all of the trees west of Yonge are doing beautifully (phase 2 & 3 of the plantings). From about 120 Bloor W. and westward (3rd phase) there are 4 or 5 dead trees that will have to be cut and replaced and another 3 or 4 that are struggling a bit. Between Yonge and 120 Bloor W. every tree is looking just beautiful; full and healthy. All of the trees west of Yonge are fuller looking, the trees east of Yonge (phase one) are a bit taller, but have a slimmer spread on the branches and don't look quite as nice as the ones west of Yonge. I don't know why that is - not that it matters.
 
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Some new trees are in on the north side (stand alone, not the planters); smaller like the Bloor west batch - hopefully less chance of transplant shock.
 
vatche said:
So it sounds like its not as bad as the newspaper makes it out to be.
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Do you have a link? I just spent 20 minutes searching The Globe & Mail but can't find the story you refer to.
 
Certainly! Go to the news section on this page up top. Then go to the news headlines from the internet for may 11, and ull see tree stumps on mink mile yet another embarrassment article from the globe and mail. Let me know how u make out.
 
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