Patrol Superintendent Laportno

What’s wrong? Dangerous toll booth gates. Who’s responsible? Craig Paul, Bridge Commission, 463-2481. REMARKS Reader Victoria Bell recently rode through the toll booth on her Vespa scooter, only to have the gate lower on her, knocking her onto the pavement. The sensors beneath the pavement, says Paul, don’t register Vespas and some motorcycles with heavy […]

What’s wrong? Flaccid fountain display. Who’s responsible? Peter Bigelow, HRM’s property manager, 490-6047. REMARKS A reader complains that the fountain in the Common no longer provides the vigourous and sustained performance that so thrilled her over the summer. “She’s right,” says Bigelow, who explains that as the autumn winds kick up, people using the nearby […]

What’s wrong? Slow-going bridge construction. Who’s responsible? Alison MacDonald, Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission, 402-0773. REMARKS Erection of the euphemistically named “safety barriers” on the Macdonald Bridge should have been completed by now, but so far reach only about halfway across one side of the bridge. Blame the manufacturer, says MacDonald, but the work will still be […]

What’s wrong? Deadly nightshades in Spryfield? Who’s responsible? Urban forester John Simmons, 490-6186. REMARKS Reader Virginia Heym insists that this plant, which is spreading from an original bush in front of the fire station on Herring Cove Road, is poisonous and a hazard to children, who might eat them. Simmons has taken this on as […]

What’s wrong? No pedestrian crossing light, Alderney Drive and Portland Street. Who’s responsible? Ken Reashor, god of traffic, 490-6637. REMARKS City policy has moved from forcing pedestrians to push a button to activate a crossing light, to not giving them a crossing light at all. This Dartmouth intersection, with a painted crosswalk but no light, […]

What’s wrong? Missing bike rack, Blowers and Barrington. Who’s responsible? Allen Taylor, transportation planner, 490-6680. REMARKS Getting the city to install new bike racks is like pulling teeth, so it’s especially maddening when perfectly goodexisting bike racks disappear, like the one across thestreet from Venus Pizza did sometime in the past year. “Probably we’ll replace […]

What’s wrong? Lack of landscaping, Agricola Street liquor store. Who’s responsible? Rick Perkins, NSLC spokesperson, 450-6752. REMARKS “It’s not our responsibility,” Perkins says of the landscaping, and points us to a Toronto corporation that manages the building. “God knows we spend enough on that building.” So the provincial representation in a struggling neighbourhood can’t spend […]

[image-1] What’s wrong? Dartmouth waterfront trail is incomplete. Who’s responsible? Peter Bigelow, HRM property manager, 490-6047. REMARKS The new waterfront trail is a great success, and for good reason: it’s got spectacular views and helpfully connects the two ferry terminals. But a reader complains that there still gaps in the asphalt, where the trail crosses the railroad tract. Not to worry, says Bigelow; CN has agreed to install crossings “soon.” Send your favourite municipal malfunction to onpatrol@thecoast.ca, or call 422-6278 ext. 113. To follow up on past problems, click on thecoast.ca.

What’s wrong? Crappy patch job, Dartmouth High School parking lot. Who’s responsible? Wayne Clark, operations, HRM school board, 464-2000. REMARKS Last summer Clark told us the lot would be repaved before last school year, but only last week did a crew get around to filling some of the pot holes. The rest of the lot […]

What’s wrong? Foamy discharges from the new Dartmouth sewage plant, stretching sometimes two-thirds across the harbour. Who’s responsible? Susheel Arora, director of waste water services, 490-4840. REMARKS Like its counterpart across the harbour, the Dartmouth plant continues to have its problems, and Halifax Water has declined to accept the plant into its system until they’re […]