Heritage building review to take six months, rapid transit staff say

A heritage review of 48 buildings along London's bus rapid transit route will take about six months, stalling a key part of the project until the spring.

Officials behind Shift BRTpaused the project earlier this month to figure out how 67 buildings would be directly impacted by the construction of the $500-million project.

After design refinements and a deeper dive into what is going on with those 67 buildings, the BRTteam whittled the number of buildings needing further evaluation to 48.

"Heritage is important to London, and we are committed to a clear and effective heritage strategy," said Jennie Ramsy, the project's director.

"We don't anticipate significant heritage impacts but it is important to do a thorough and comprehensive review."

Most of the buildings are along Wellington Road, partly because the s-curvenorth of Baseline Road will be straightened out as part of the project.

After the heritage review is done at the end of March, a final BRT report goes for a 30-day public review process, during which Londoners can look at the report and register complaints.

"This heritage work was always embedded in our plans just not in this particular phase of the project so we don't expect a material impact on the overall ten-year budget and timeline," Ramsay said.