Here is a downloadable version of the PowerPoint presentation at the August 8, 2009 Open House for the Causeway Project. Dial-up users should be aware that this is a large file (45 MB) that will take some time to download.

Port Rowan, August 10, 2009 — The Steering Committee of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project (LPCIP) today announced a policy statement on preserving the Causeway’s existing willow and cottonwood trees and developing a comprehensive long term landscape plan that would include planting Carolinian species of trees, shrubs and plants along the 3.6 kilometre roadway. The statement was issued in response to inaccurate information that the proposed Improvement Plan required the removal of all trees along the Causeway. However, the plan did recognize that some dead or damaged trees might have to be removed for public safety reasons or to[…]

June 30, 2009 — Efforts to protect wildlife by reducing the annual road kill of endangered turtles and snakes along the Long Point Causeway got a $69,000 boost thanks to funding from both the federal and Ontario governments. The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project (LPCIP) will receive $48,000 from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program and $21,250 from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources’ Species at Risk Stewardship Fund to carry on with barrier fencing, turtle nest mounds, signage, and monitoring activities along the 3.6 kilometre roadway, ranked the fifth deadliest in the world for turtle mortality. The HSP funding will[…]

Over the past four months, a small, but vocal group has used misinformation and scare tactics to create opposition to the Causeway Improvement Project. They have made three deputations to Norfolk County Council and initiated a letter-writing campaign asking Council to abandon the Project. In response, we asked members of the community who support the Project to write letters or e-mails to Council encouraging the Mayor and Council members to maintain the Council’s endorsement of the Project, which it provided in July in response to a deputation by the Causeway Project Steering Committee. We are publishing a selection of quotes[…]

By Daniel Pearce, Simcoe Reformer When Coun. John Hunt was an OPP officer in the 1970s, he was called to the Long Point causeway on a regular basis — often to an ugly scene. Due to “a combination of speed, booze, and trees,” the narrow, shoulderless stretch of road from the mainland to the point became a deadly alleyway, Hunt recalls. Drivers would lose control and crash straight into a tree.Back then, he says, many people, including himself, thought the causeway would be safer if the trees were cut down and the road widened. But environmentalists were opposed because it[…]

By Jeff Helsdon Staff Writer, Tillsonburg News Long Point Causeway Improvement Committee paraded its successes Wednesday on improving the fifth deadliest section of road in the world for turtle mortality. The committee, which has broad representation from a diversity of community groups, has been working to address the roadkill problem. It is also looking into ways to make the causeway safer for people and allowing water flow between the marsh and bay. Representatives of the many organizations involved were invited to the area on Wednesday to see progress to date. Earlier this year, the committee installed 2.5 kilometres of barrier[…]

Here’s a scientific study on road mortality on the causeway by Paul Ashley and Jeff Robinson of the Canadian Wildlife Service.

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[…]