Sun Media
The London Free Press

SIMCOE — The willow and cottonwood trees along the causeway to Long Point will not be cut down, says the latest policy statement from the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project committee.

Co-ordinator Rick Levick said the committee wants to be “loud and clear.” The initial project called for cutting down some of the trees for a wider roadway and other safety improvements to the 3.5-kilometre road. But the group has responded to public concern about the plan.

“The (committee) is committed to working with the community and Norfolk County to define a vision and comprehensive landscape plan that includes the retention of existing trees,” the policy reads. “We feel this adjustment to the plan will still meet our goals,” Levick said.

The project calls for planting Carolinian species of trees, shrubs and plants. “We have to start thinking now for when the trees die,” Levick said.

“So, 50 years from now, people still drive under a canopy of trees when they drive down the causeway.”

The committee hopes to reduce wildlife mortality on the road by creating eco-passages, rehabilitating habitats and installing fences. The committee also wants to make a safer road and capitalize on tourism opportunities by adding more wildlife viewing areas and adding a trail along the causeway.

A group of concerned citizens has opposed the estimated $15-million project, saying it’s unnecessary, will ruin the causeway’s landscape and cost taxpayers.