A final one-week warning has been issued to those living in an encampment underneath the Hanlon Expressway to clear out.
Officials from the MTO gave a verbal notice to the 10 to 12 residents there along the Speed River Monday morning.
The eviction notice explains the land is owned by the MTO, and is encouraging residents to "vacate these lands and utilize the safe, social programs available" to them.
"Ideally, what the MTO is looking for is for us to have most of our stuff out," said Patrick Fox, who has been living rough for the last year and a half.
"Anything that's too heavy or too big, they can store for us. Anything that's going into the junk can stay and be thrown in the junk pile."
Eviction notices were handed out by the MTO last Wednesday.
The notice said anything left behind Monday would be held for 30 days at an MTO yard on Elmira Road, disposed of if not claimed.
Despite the notice, a lone MTO representative visited the encampment Monday morning to advise the residents of the extension. OPP officers were at the top of the pathway on Municipal Street, but didn't go down the trail.
"(The MTO) didn't bring his movers to start grabbing shit," Fox said. "He was just here to see if we had done anything yet and offer some more time if we need it."
Underneath the bridge, encampment resident David Dobbs was joined by some of his coworkers at Sanguen Health Centre Monday.
He doesn't agree with the eviction, saying there shouldn't be an urgency to move them out because nothing is being developed in the area.
"It's been empty for so long," he said, adding the move is being done to "disturb somebody's life and comfort."
But alas, he's preparing for the movers to come in.
"Get as much done before (next Tuesday)," Dobbs said. "Take it slow and help (fellow encampment residents) out too."
What comes next, though?
Dobbs and company are still trying to figure that one out.
Dobbs said he will get as much stuff out as he can, not trusting what the MTO will do with what is left.
As for a place to rest his head, the building at 90 Carden is out of the equation for him, he said. Drop-in centres and hotels are also not ideal for him.
"I can't do the small spaces," Dobbs said. "Loud noises and lots of people around me."
He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after a workplace incident a couple of years ago while working in a Sudbury mine.
Fox, meantime, is unable to work due to an undisclosed injury, and is on ODSP. After a year and a half living rough, he is also trying to determine his options.
"I'm not even sure yet," he said of what comes next. "I don't have a place around here. I don't even know where I'm putting all my stuff yet."
All in all, he said "it's kind of a drag," and it comes right before his 48th birthday on July 5.
"I am on the housing list," added Fox. "But I'm told three to five years wait. Ideally, I would've liked to stay here. I put so much work into this, trying to make it not like a party zone. It's where I live."
Best case scenario, he said he could try and find someone with a basement to rent.
But for now, the countdown begins again, leading up to Tuesday, July 4, when it looks like movers will make their way down the path and begin the clear out.
