Metrolinx to level 12 more buildings along LRT route in Hamilton

Metrolinx has plans to demolish a dozen properties along Hamilton's proposed LRT route.

The vacant buildings will startbeing knocked down as soon as next month,pending permit approvals, according to the transit agency.

The work "willensure community safety and prepare for future construction" and "reduce the risk of fire, vandalism and illegal activities in these properties," Metrolinx stated in a media release.

It comes after 21other properties along the LRT corridor were levelled. Two other buildings near Main Street East and KenilworthAvenue were also brought down and the cleanup is expected to be completed this week, the crown agency stated in a media release.

Activists had previously called for some of the sites to be used as affordable housing. But Metrolinx, which owns the buildings, said they were too unsafe to be repurposed.

The 12sites slated for demolition include:

• 85 Paisley Avenue South
• 918 Main Street West
• 930 Main Street West/160 Bond Street South
• 940 Main Street West
• 670-674 King Street East
• 676-680 King Street East
• 692 King Street East
• 696 King Street East
• 787-789 King Street East
• 924 King St East
• 1030 King St East
• 1407 Main St East

Metrolinx says utilities will start being disconnected at the buildings this week. Businesses and people living nearby will be notified before demolition begins.

"In the coming years, these properties will be required for station stops, infrastructure, and widening to accommodate the future LRT right of way," reads the release, adding in the meantime the sites will be fenced in and monitored by security.

The long-awaited and long-debated project would see a14-kilometre route built betweenMcMaster University andEastgate Square.

Hamiltoncouncillorsvoted in early September infavour of signing a binding agreement following a pledge of $3.4-billion in support from the federal and provincial governments.The memorandum of understandingwas signed bythe city and Metrolinx on Sept. 22.

Metrolinx says it plans to continue buying properties to clear the way for the LRT starting later this year and into 2022.

Early construction, which will largely include utility relocations, is expected to begin in the spring of next year, while the request for qualifications from bidders for the main contract, could start this winter, stated the transit agency.