Expropriation to go ahead for Waverley underpass project in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG — The city has been given the green light to move forward with expropriating portions of 11 properties for the Waverley underpass, and the project is being put on the fast track. The decision was made public Tuesday.

The city typically has to hold individual expropriation hearings with each property owner, which can be a time consuming process.

RELATED: Waverley Underpass project gets green light from Winnipeg city council

Late last month, the province eliminated the need for those individual hearings so the new $155 million Waverley underpass can start in January, meaning business owners won’t be able to voice their concerns at an expropriation hearing.

“For us it’s two things. There’s surviving the inconvenience of surviving having the detour on our property,” said Sue Boreskie, CEO of the Reh-Fit Centre, one of the neighboring properties set to lose the biggest portion of its property. “The second is the potential for expanding our business in the future.” Reh-fit will lose nearly 21 thousand square feet.

Traffic on Waverley will be detoured to the west during construction. The busy artery will be realigned once the underpass is completed by October 2019. Residents are concerned about the two year long construction in their back yard.

RELATED: Waverley underpass project could be delayed for another year

“With all the construction going on, we’ll be listening to a lot of trucks going by, a lot of digging, probably hammering piles into the ground,” resident Arnold Kapitz told Global News.

Piazza Di Nardi’s Community Garden will be affected as well as nine other parcels of greenery and shrubs in the area.

The city says they met with the affected land owners and are negotiating compensation for their property.

Both the city and the province refused an interview.