It seems Toronto just can't have nice things, as a gorgeous new pedestrian streetscape that literally just wrapped up construction has been torn up for utility work.

Streetscape improvements along Wellington Street West wrapped in 2023 as part of megaproject The Well, and they're already being torn to shreds by City utility workers just one year after completion.

The anonymous X (formerly Twitter) account 'Toronto Poles and Dangling Wires' shared news of the surprising but also somehow entirely unsurprising development on May 15, when work crews descended on the block of Wellington west of Spadina.

Well, that didn’t last long. Soooo Toronto. pic.twitter.com/WIZyt6huxz

— Toronto Poles and Dangling Wires (@PolesWires) May 15, 2024

By the following day, patches of the newly installed pavers had been replaced by asphalt, with no apparent attempt made to reinstall the removed patches of paving stones.

Please guess how long this “temporary” asphalt will remain in place. pic.twitter.com/Kz5mGj82h7

— Toronto Poles and Dangling Wires (@PolesWires) May 16, 2024

Several disappointed commenters reacted to the photos, including one user who wrote, "My question is how/why?"

The user went on to question the lack of coordination on the two projects, asking, "Is this a failure of planning for the city to coordinate with other stakeholders (hydro) which might need to do work? Intransigence with Hydro not wanting to cooperate? Really urgent unscheduled work because infrastructure is crumbling? (See bad planning)."

lol wow a joke

— Edward Row (@edwardrow) May 16, 2024

Even before the current utility work, Wellington Street's new infrastructure upgrades caused some controversy when motorists began using the thoroughfare's new bike lane as their own personal parking lot.

Toronto just got a fancy new bike lane that drivers are already parking in https://t.co/SezUL861Zb #Toronto #bikeTO

— blogTO (@blogTO) May 29, 2023

A City of Toronto representative explained to blogTO in an email statement that the utility work shown in photos "was performed by Enbridge Gas to provide services to a new property development located across the street."

As to why the works couldn't be coordinated, the representative explained that the City "received the application from Enbridge to perform this work after a developer had already completed work related to the sidewalks and curbs on the south side of the street."

While many on social media doubt a speedy resolution, the City explains that "a temporary restoration has been completed at this site, and once the backfill has settled, the utility will complete permanent restoration that meets City Standards and Specifications for completing road works."

"Utilities provide essential services, including water, electricity, gas, sewer and telecommunications, to residents and businesses across Toronto. To provide these services, utilities maintain complex networks of infrastructure above and below Toronto's streets, sidewalks and boulevards."

"As Toronto's population grows and as additional or modernized infrastructure are required, a significant volume of construction is needed to maintain, upgrade and expand utility networks to meet demand."

The City representative notes that the one-two punch of a growing population and aging infrastructure require "a significant volume of construction" to keep residents an businesses supplied with utilities.

"There are also emergency situations where utilities must make cuts to urgently access underground infrastructure and restore services to residents and businesses who rely on them."