Finding your way
around town or country can be tricky enough, so let’s hear it for
large, clearly marked addresses. Thanks to the spread of 911
emergency telephone service, there has been a revolution in properly
labelling properties. For anyone awaiting an ambulance, or just the
pizza, it’s nice to be found quickly. Some older cities are still
waiting to evolve, however. Compared to Montreal, which has the
best, most consistent address markings I know, Ontario cities are
backward. Many burgs do not enforce by-laws that require homes and
businesses to post their numbers clearly, even though the fine can
run as high as $5,000. In Saanich, B.C., I hear that if you even let
vegetation grow in front of your street address, the fine is $50.
Per day.
Of course, most
municipal governments have taken pains to harmonize the numbering of
properties, especially following expansion and amalgamations.
Predictable numbering was a big deal in older cities, and is still
an issue in the sprawling edges of suburban Canada. The authorities
may ensure addresses in new developments follow a logical,
predictable pattern -- but that’s no help if you can’t see the
digits from the road.
As a long-time
driver in southern Ontario, I remember how tough it was to make
deliveries -- trying to drive while peering at store fronts.
Toronto, with over 700,000 distinct addresses, is still in crying
need of consistently placed numerals -- à la Montreal. Wally
Kowalenko, director of survey and mapping for the City of Toronto,
says a new street number by-law is finally in place, but strict
enforcement is years away. Rules specify the size of these
“municipal numbers”, especially when the building is far from the
road. Eventually, he hopes that better numbers may have the effect
of reducing some of the traffic on streets.
He says, “Quite
often you've got motorists looking for places... and its not always
possible to track down the location of a business simply by its name
-- you have to find the number. I mean, how many times have you been
on Toronto streets looking for a particular business or a house --
you know, there's quite a bit of chaos out there. Anything you can
do to improve traffic flow, I think will... reduce the amount of
chaos on the roads.” If more owners clearly marked their properties,
Kowalenko believes fewer drivers would pull U-turns or turn around
on side streets -- perhaps allowing a small drop in pollution
levels.
Toronto does
have one attribute worth lauding -- many street signs in older
neighbourhoods include the address of the corner property. In the
U.S. especially, such numbers can be found plastered on street
signs, sprayed on curbs or in an attempt to fight crime, in alleys
at the rear of properties. North of the border, there is a major
effort to plant address signposts in suburban and rural zones.
The advent of
enhanced 911 service has brought extensive labelling along country
roads in Ontario, but the process is not aided by any central
coordination. Along with the caller’s phone number, emergency
operators now have access to a civic address or "emergency location
number". My northern Ontario correspondent Eric McConnachie confirms
the arrival of “little numbered signs on every lot and speck and
building along every out-of-the-way roadside from Honey Harbour to
Haldane Hill.” Giving directions is not the same, he quips. No more,
“Go past the big pine tree on the corner, and keep going till you
see the Winters's old grey horse standing in the field. We're the
third driveway on the left with a white mailbox."
Ed Drass, with
files by James Bow
Email the
Traffic Guru at
edrass@nationalpost.com