By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

It appears the improvement project of Gibb Street and Olive Avenue has overcome its latest speed bump. The region is attempting to widen Gibb Street and Olive Avenue to four lanes, along with a new fourlane connection between Stevenson and Ritson roads, at a cost of $27.8
million. However, the region encountered a slight hurdle when they discovered they would have to buyout a property at 75 Gibb St. in order to do so. The 1915-era home is located on
the south side of Gibb Street between Centre Street South and Nassau Street. The technically preferred alignment results in the loss of the whole 1,054 square foot lot.

So the owner contacted the region to initiate the acquisition of the property. In February, an independent appraiser estimated the market value of the lot to be $201,000 and an additional $5,000 for a second appraisal was used. The region plans to tender for the demolition at a cost of $25,000. At a recent regional council meeting councillors voted in favour of approving the purchase agreement for the project, allowing the project to move forward. The region set out in an effort to improve roads back in 2006 when a Class Environmental Assessment commenced. The study is currently in the public consultation phase. A total of $10 million has been approved in the 2008 Roads Capitals Budgets for property acquisitions needed to complete the project.

However, the region is now expecting to spend a total of $15.1 million on property acquisitions by the end of 2011, states a regional works report. If all goes as planned, and the region doesn’t encounter any more speed bumps, the project will begin in 2013.