Property owners wait for decision on Daly Overpass

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/02/2018 (3034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It has been more than a month since Manitoba Infrastructure revealed four options for the Daly Overpass’s future, and area property owners remain uncertain as to whether they’ll face a bulldozer.

In mid-December, four options for the estimated $60-million project were released during a public open house at the Victoria Inn and Hotel Convention Centre.

These plans surrounding commercial and residential properties to varying degrees.

Of the four options, three would impact Brandon Business Interiors’ property at 1525 Pacific Ave. through the construction of new adjoining roadways.

“But the degree to the impact; we’re not sure if it’s a snip of the parking lot,” owner Jordan Ludwig said, adding that they’ve been placed in “kind of a holding pattern” until they get clarity from the province.

Their immediate neighbours to the west, myITsource, are in an even trickier situation, with owner Frank Arndt noting that all four of the province’s designs would lead to their building being demolished.

Arndt said that they built their current facility only seven years ago with the idea of never having to move again.

Although reluctant to say too much about their situation at present, given how little information he currently has about the project, Arndt said that he is concerned about the plans and that he has expressed these concerns to the province.

He’s hopeful that a fifth option will come up, which doesn’t see his building demolished.

During a recent Brandon Chamber of Commerce luncheon myITsource sponsored, Arndt reassured those in attendance that regardless of what happens, he did not plan on missing a beat in serving their clients.

The large brick building to myITsource’s immediate west, which serves as a warehouse for Kullberg’s Furniture, is also in the way of future plans according to the four draft options, but the building’s ownership was unavailable for comment by press time on Wednesday.

Advance Auto Body and Glass general manager Trevor Kindrat is in the same boat as everyone else contacted for this story, in that he doesn’t know what the future holds for his business.

Situated directly west of the Daly Overpass’s southern base, Advance Auto Body and Glass would be impacted in some of the preliminary designs’ construction of adjoining roadways, although Kindrat said that he’s uncertain as to the severity.

“We’re waiting for the province to decide which option they’re going to go with,” he said. “We’re just waiting for more information.”

A spokesperson for the provincial government declined to offer any new information about this project or the process they intend to follow, when requested on Tuesday.

Instead, they offered the following written statement: “The final design has not yet been selected. Once it has, consultations with stakeholders such as property owners and businesses will take place.”

The project timeline that was released in December cites this as round three of the public consultation processes, after which a detailed design is to be drafted and the construction period would commence.

The City of Brandon deferred comment to the provincial government, given that it is its project to manage.

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB