Residents in the path of a major road upgrade on the Sunshine Coast fear they will be left homeless as the deadline for property resumptions nears.
About 100 dwellings are being acquired by the Queensland government to make way for the Mooloolah River Interchange.
The project, which has been on the table for more than a decade, aims to improve traffic flow north and south of the booming region.
Homeowner Peter McDonald is packing his "whole life" into a shipping container.
"It breaks my heart that we've got to go," Mr McDonald said.
"I've never lived anywhere this long, as I had a very short time with my parents and I was out on my own early.
"It was a struggle to get in here and it was everything I had."
Most dwellings along his Mountain Creek street are vacant and boarded up, with government signs stuck to the doors warning people to stay out.
Security guards patrol the street day and night.
Mr McDonald said the impact of the Mooloolah River Interchange project on the "tight-knit community" in the past year was heartbreaking.
"I've had to watch my friends put their whole lives into wheelie bins and set it on the side of the road and then put their dogs in shelters," he said.
"There were more than 70 people down here and everybody would walk past you and smile."
Fast moving plans
Project plans were sent into disarray this week when the federal government confirmed it had pushed back its half of funding for the $320 million project by three years.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the federal government funding remained in the forward estimates budget but in the meantime, the state government would cover the shortfall.
"The Palaszczuk government is set to front load our 50 per cent share of the $320 million of funding … to keep this project moving and on track," Mr Bailey said.
"Design work is underway and I'm expecting an early works package to be awarded and to get underway in the first half of next year, weather permitting."
Due to the change of plans, residents were given an extension of two months to leave but those yet to find somewhere to go said the changing plans added extra stress and uncertainty to their lives.
LNP member for Buderim Brent Mickelberg said he was supporting residents.
"Many of these residents have genuine mental health issues as a consequence of this process," Mr Mickelberg said.
Homeowner Jason Savanh said he had spent hours calling Transport and Main Roads to find out what was happening with the project.
"I can't talk to anyone during the day because I'm working and all I can do is sit down by six o'clock on the computer," Mr Savanh said.
"Then Saturday I'm looking for houses and then Sunday is like getting all my list together on what can I afford.
"I feel like I've just been pressured and pushed."
Mr Savanh said he could not obtain finance to buy another house while he negotiated a higher price with the state government for his property resumption.
"I can't move on until we had some kind of agreement with the price on the purchase on my house," he said.
"I'm not asking for a million dollars, just like [the] equivalent to where I can go."
'I've been homeless before'
Prominent lawyer Peter Boyce said the 60-year-old land acquisition law needed to be updated to ensure residents were properly compensated.
"If person A has to leave their home, and they still want to live in the area, shouldn't they get an equivalent compensation to enable them to at least buy back into the market?" Mr Boyce said.
"The law is a 1962 act, it has been amended from time to time but it hasn't been amended to catch up with the real world.
"We're dealing with real people who are absolutely bleeding badly because of this process."
Mr McDonald is preparing for the worst.
"I'll be homeless and on the road. I'll smell bad and my dog will smell bad, but we'll be happy enough and we'll find something because I don't know what else I can do," Mr McDonald said.
"I've been homeless before.
"There's no way I can afford to replace what I've got on the Sunshine Coast."
