Most correspondents to the Lakes Mail shared the same message: Emergency repairs to the road surface and footpath are needed now, and before council starts its Toronto Streetscape Master Plan works next March.

Journalism student Amy Mckenna, of Blackalls Park, works at Simply Pharmacy Toronto, on The Boulevarde.

She said an elderly woman recently fell and broke her shoulder in front of the pharmacy.

"It was an accident waiting to happen and now someone has been quite severely injured," Ms Mckenna said.

"I'm trying to make the community aware of the state of the footpath so hopefully future falls can be prevented."

As part of her studies, she has made a video about the state of The Boulevarde.

It can be viewed online at vimeo.com/138844924.

TERRY Gale, of Blackalls Park, said The Boulevarde had become "an absolute disgrace".

But he clearly hadn't lost his sense of humour.

"The holes on that road are so deep I pulled a small child out of one the other day," Mr Gale said.

"The Red Cross and the Salvation Army were throwing food parcels down to the trapped people."

A regular caller to local talkback radio, Mr Gale - known as The Guru - said the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

He said it was his persistent approach to former mayor Greg Piper that had helped to deliver street lighting in Faucett Street, at Blackalls Park.

Mr Gale recounted the story that he told Mr Piper which he reckons helped to seal the deal.

"I'd been walking home from the club in the dark one night along Faucett Street when I trod on a stone and lurched to the side and bumped shoulders with this bloke.

"'Geez!' I said, 'You gave me a fright! How long have you been there?' I asked him.

"'About 10 minutes', he said."

Mr Piper was left in no doubt about how dark the street was, Mr Gale said.