Sharon Miller is the last resident of Hamilton’s LRT ghost town. Can she find an affordable new home?

Sharon Miller and her husband are the last tenants left in Hamilton's LRT ghost town."

That was her label for the King Street East block purchased by Metrolinx in 2018 to make way for a light rail transit line - only to see the provincial Tories abruptly cancel the project a year later over a ballooning budget.

But with a resurrected LRT project back on track - courtesy of $3.4-billion in joint provincial-federal cash announced last May - Metrolinx has resumed emptying and demolishing buildings in the way of the train.

Miller, 68, said she is worried her family will have to vacate their home of 23 years soon - perhaps as early as February, when another Metrolinx tenant is moving out. The transit agency told The Spectator they are working to find Miller a new place, but there is no deadline to move out.

Regardless, Miller said alternative rental homes offered to her so far just won't work. They tell me they'll pay any difference in rent (for a year or more)," she said. But I'm on a fixed income. What happens after a year or two? I'm left holding the bag."

Miller was one of about 20 Metrolinx tenants left in limbo after the original LRT was cancelled in 2019. Most of her neighbouring homes have been bulldozed and more demolitions along the line are expected this winter.

Spokesperson Matt Llewellyn said Metrolinx has since helped all tenants other than Miller and her husband relocate. He said the agency has been working to find them a new home on-and-off over four years and offered financial incentives worth tens of thousands of dollars."

Metrolinx does not disclose specific financial aid offers to individuals, but Llewellyn said such assistance can include paying moving costs, first and last rent or covering the difference in monthly rent for a time-limited period.

He said the agency is working with local agencies to investigate potential housing and program subsidies that could help the couple. (We) hope to find them a new place to call home, as soon as possible."

Miller is an outspoken advocate for tenants affected by LRT and was even featured in a documentary last year.

She and other tenant advocacy groups have argued the government should have made new housing options available before forcing low-income renters out of their homes in an increasingly unaffordable housing market.

(Affordable housing provider Indwell actually pitched an LRT housing partnership aimed at helping relocated tenants to Metrolinx as early as 2017, but the offer was not pursued by the provincial agency.)

Miller acknowledges she has unique moving requirements.

She said she has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the falling death of a family member that means living in an apartment building is impossible." Miller also smokes, ruling out many housing complexes.

Monthly rental costs increasingly loom large. Miller has lived in her current home for two decades and pays about $550, utilities included. Where I could find anything like that now, I don't know," she said.

Miller likely will not be the last tenant forced to move out of the way of the train. Up to 30 additional buildings may still need to be purchased along the planned 14-kilometre LRT Main-King corridor.

Llewellyn said Metrolinx is still updating its design and procurement documents for LRT 2.0, so the exact number of extra building purchases - and affected tenants - is yet to be confirmed.

Those building purchase or expropriation costs will likely be substantially higher" amid spiking land values compared to 2018, said expropriation lawyer Shane Rayman, who represented clients along the route during the original project.

The agency is also still enmeshed in at least one potentially pricey court battle over the cancelled project.

The city's largest employee union, CUPE Local 5167, filed a $2.5-million lawsuit against Metrolinx over a derailed purchase of a union hall along the planned LRT line.

Utility relocation work along the LRT line should start this year, but major construction is unlikely before late 2023.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at for The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com