Reader Christopher Hunt calls it "delightfully absurd." To reader David Lillico, it's "spectacularly bad." City traffic officials use the phrase "complex intersection geometry."
But there are few words that can truly describe the five-headed monster of an intersection of Dundas Avenue West, Dupont Street, Annette Street and Old Weston Road.
First given traffic lights in 1948 -- what a place it must have been before this was deemed necessary -- this intersection came up several times in Dr. Gridlock's recent call for readers to name Toronto's worst. While other intersections may be more dangerous, or more congested, this one easily ranks among the most confusing in the city.
For those of you not familiar with the pleasures of Dundas and Dupont, here's a quick synopsis. First, Dundas Street West runs north-south.
Westbound traffic on Dupont curves north under a railway overpass, almost running parallel to Dundas when the two streets meet at an unorthodox angle.
To get onto Annette, westbound drivers on Dupont have to make what appears to be a left-hand turn, although they are technically just going straight through the intersection.
City records show traffic officials fielding various gripes about this place as far back as 1975, and making various modifications -- new street signs, different pavement markings -- to try to keep motorists' nervous breakdowns to a minimum.
In 1980, Toronto Transit Commission officials complained when police gave a bus driver a ticket for an illegal left-hand turn for merely proceeding from Dupont onto Annette in that curb lane. Turns out, this was (and remains) completely legal, since heading to Annette is really just going straight through the intersection.
Westbound drivers on Dupont zipping across from the left lane to get onto Dundas West kept crashing into cars, or TTC buses, headed through to Annette in the curb lane.
So traffic officials in the mid-1990s formally designated the left lane for left turns or Annette-bound traffic only, and the right lane for cars headed to Annette, Dundas West or Old Weston Road, installing new signs and special pavement markings.
But fender benders caused by westbound drivers trying to get to Dundas West from Dupont's left lane continued, often caused when motorists tried to get around a bus in the curb lane.
Last year, traffic officials tweaked and repainted the road markings to make the rules clearer to drivers, including repainting "skip marks" -- the dotted-line lane markings that make the curved movement through the intersection easier.
Stephen Benjamin, manager of traffic operations for the city's south district, said the city was also considering a suggestion from Dr. Gridlock reader Christopher Hunt, printed in this space in recent months.
Mr. Hunt floated the idea of installing an advanced-green arrow here to reassure westbound drivers headed for Annette "that they're not taking their life into their hands."
Of course, you can't please everyone.
After Mr. Hunt's idea was printed in this space, nearby resident Mark Thornton wrote in to say that such a move would just make the intersection even more confusing, since proceeding from Dupont to Annette is not really a left turn at all.
And reader Mary Corey writes that she bikes through the intersection every day and says she likes it just the way it is. " . . . Although it is confusing, I have never seen a perilous situation."
Dr. Gridlock appears every Monday. Send your traffic or transit questions, tips and rants to
Jeff Gray