In 2007, the Region of Durham initiated a road-widening project through a Provincially Significant coastal wetland in the town of Whitby, Ontario, Canada. The wetland and surrounding area form part of the Lynde Shores Conservation Area, and concerns were raised during the proposal phase about the impacts to wildlife if the road were to be widened from 2 to 4 lanes. Lack of information about existing wildlife impacts at the outset of the project led to a 3 year road ecology study being undertaken by the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA), the results of which led the project proponents and their consultants to agree that wildlife mitigation measures needed to be incorporated into the new road design. These measures included constructing a section of the road atop a 1 metre exclusion wall – the only example of its kind in Ontario, expanding existing culverts to include terrestrial wildlife passage, integrating a dedicated terrestrial passage, and erecting wildlife exclusion fencing along its entire length.
In 2020, the road widening construction was completed, and post-construction mortality studies showed a significant decline in wildlife-vehicle collisions, particularly among reptiles and amphibians, which were the target group for the design. In 2022, Durham Region won an award for the project (https://www.durham.ca/en/news/works-department-wins-project-of-the-year…).
This road represents the first time that Durham Region has prioritized wildlife in its design, and the positive collaboration that occurred between CLOCA and the Region, as well as the success of the design itself in reducing wildlife vehicle collisions, has led to more discussions about incorporating wildlife mitigation measures into other infrastructure projects. The experience also removed much of the uneasiness that the Region had initially had about including wildlife passages, and helped support the creation of a Wildlife Corridor Enhancement and Protection Plan for the CLOCA jurisdiction in 2015, which is regularly used by all levels of government to inform transportation planning. The Plan, which was updated in 2022, is one of very few examples of a watershed scale wildlife-transportation planning document in Ontario (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJ_RnNuiNVrs_2FGs0aZx5QHXVN918Bj/view).
This presentation, if accepted, will focus on the Victoria St road widening project, from its inception to final construction, emphasizing the importance of early and positive partner collaboration in such projects, and will secondarily provide an overview of CLOCA’s Wildlife Corridor Protection and Enhancement Plan (2nd edition).
success
collaboration
Planning