A London family is worried that construction of the Bus Rapid Transit System long a stretch of Dundas Street is compromising the structural integrity of their home after a retaining wall and most of their front lawn was removed. “This deck used to be completely flush here,” Sean-Anne Morris-Ryan said, pointing to a gap in the wooden front porch. “It’s about an inch lower. So, this is falling.” Morris-Ryan and her father rent separate units in the house at 1224 Dundas Street that’s owned by her uncle. Earlier this year, road crews removed most of the front lawn, leaving about a three-foot strip of land before a steep drop-off. Morris-Ryan says rainstorms have caused a section of the embankment to erode towards the corner of her home. It’s already crept beyond a line of snow fencing and yellow caution tape installed when the front lawn was initially removed. “Everything is shifting in my house,” she explained. “My door doesn’t shut consistently anymore because things are a little bit off. We’ve got a really old house. We’ve got old floorboards [and] the nails are popping out of them.” The road widening will accommodate two bus rapid transit lanes being added to Dundas Street as part of the East London Link BRT route. In October 2022, several of Morris-Ryan’s neighbours expressed concern to CTV News about the amount of their front yards required for the widening. Now the row of houses along the north side of the street are perched on the steep soil ridge overlooking the road construction. According to Morris-Ryan, a fire escape from her elderly father’s second floor apartment began tilting dangerously away from the house after a new gas line was installed. Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson suggests early and effective communication might have eased the current situation. “They’re not just concerned about how much property they may lose in this direction, [and] it’s not just the inconvenience,” Stevenson told CTV News. “There’s a perceived safety concern that needs to be addressed.” In an emailed statement the city explains that the excavation is required to install a new retaining wall and complete underground utility improvements. “The project team regularly reviews site conditions throughout construction and will continue to monitor the area as work progresses. Once the necessary infrastructure improvements are complete the property will be fully restored,” wrote Jennie Dann, Director of Construction and Infrastructure Services. However, Morris-Ryan will keep a cautious eye on the corner of her home every time it rains. “It’s just washing away. This area did not look like that,” she said. “Now [the erosion] it’s pretty much right up to our deck.”
