By Sarah Doktor, Simcoe Reformer Snakes, turtles and other critters will have more opportunities to cross from one side of the Long Point Causeway to the other thanks to new funding. The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project (LPCIP) steering committee recently received approval for $223,000 in funding over three years from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) for Species at Risk to install up to six new ecopassages along the Long Point Causeway. The funding will enable LPCIP to design, engineer and receive approval for the additional passages recommended in the project’s original feasibility study. “Having that certainty for three[…]
LPCIP News
Long Point Causeway Project receives funding for more ecopassages
Port Rowan, June 18, 2013 — The Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Steering Committee is looking forward to installing up to six more ecopassages along the Long Point Causeway thanks to $223,000 in recent funding received from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP). Three ecopassages were built last fall to allow turtles, snakes and frogs to pass safety under the 3.6 kilometre roadway. The funding enables the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project (LPCIP) to carry out the design, engineering and approvals work for additional ecopassages recommended in the project’s original feasibility study. Over the next 3 years, the committee plans[…]
Video gives guided tour of causeway eco-passages
LONG POINT – Anyone interested in a guided tour of the Long Point Causeway project can find a good one on YouTube. The Brantford production company Lock3Media came to Long Point last November to shoot a video of the work done so far. The aim of the project is to reduce the incidence of reptile mortality on the 3.6-kilometre stretch of road. The nine-minute video features Oshawa actress and environmentalist Mary Krohnert in conversation with Long Point cottager Rick Levick, co-ordinator of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project. The segment briefly examines the issues that gave rise to the project and delivers[…]
Ecopassages featured in Ontario Nature magazine
The newly-installed ecopassages under the Long Point Causeway are featured in an article in the winter 2012-13 edition of Ontario Nature magazine. The article can be found on page 8 at the following link : http://www.vdocshop.com/doc/on-nature-magazine/winter2012-13/2012112201/#0 Since it was established as the Federation of Ontario Naturalists in 1931, Ontario Nature has been a champion for nature in Ontario protecting wild species and wild spaces through conservation, education and public engagement. Ontario Nature is a charitable organization representing more than 30,000 members and supporters and 140 member groups across Ontario.
Ecopassage Research Studies
Please find below copies of and links to several studies that have found that ecopassages are effective in helping to reduce road mortality by turtles, snakes and frogs when combined with barrier fencing that prevent animals from moving onto the roadway and directs them toward the ecopassages. This system of fencing and ecopassages has been installed on the Long Point Causeway. Wildlife use of culverts in Maryland Use of underpass by wildlife in Australia Spotted turtle use of culverts Effective Culvert Placement and Design to Facilitate Passage of Amphibians across Roads Highway mortality of turtles and other herpetofauna at Lake[…]
Ecopassages installed on Long Point Causeway
Above photo : Members of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Committee and dignitaries turned out on a beautiful Friday morning, November 16, to witness the installation of ecopassages on Long Point. Participants included (left to right): MPP Toby Barrett, Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation Vice President Paula Jongerden, Committee Coordinator Rick Levick, “Myrtle”, Councillor Betty Chanyi with grandson Ben Baruth, Committee member Jim Abbey and Biosphere Reserve President Brian Craig. Port Rowan Good News, Dec. 2012 For Rick Levick, Christmas came early this year. “It’s so exciting” said Levick as he watched the wet ecopassage being installed west of[…]
Ecopassage construction photos added
We’ve added a new photo gallery in the “Maps and photos” section under the More Info heading. The photos show the installation of the two types of smaller terrestrial ecopassages for wildlife and the much larger aquatic ecopassage that will reconnect a waterway in the Big Creek Marsh with Long Point Bay while providing safe passage for wildlife under the Causeway. It’s interesting to note that each section of the aquatic culvert weighs 20 metric tons (about 44,000 pounds).
Safe Passage
Paula Jangerden, chair of the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project, and Scott Gillingwater, a species at risk biologist and member of LPCIP, show off one of the three underground eco-passages under construction in Long Point during a tour of the site on Friday. The passages will provide a safe thoroughfare for the endangered snakes and turtles that migrate across the causeway each year. By Sarah Doktor, Simcoe Reformer The construction of underground eco-passages in Long Point to protect turtles and snakes from becoming road kill is now underway. “We’re actually ahead of schedule,” said Rick Levick, co-ordinator of the Long[…]
Construction has started on 3 ecopassages at Long Point
by Chris Mcmillan, CD 98.9 Simcoe It’s been a long time coming, but construction on three ecopassages under the Long Point Causeway has begun. The first shovel went into the ground earlier this week and the Long Point Causeway Improvement Project Coordinator, Rick Levick tells CD989 he expects a majority of the project to be completed by the end of December. The three Eco-Passages are being installed to allow turtles, snakes, frogs and other wildlife to avoid the dangers of the roadway. Something Levick is looking forward too. “It’s great to have construction finally underway but I’ll have to wait[…]
Council approves $58k for Causeway Ecopassages
Port Rowan Good News, Nov. 2012 After hearing deputations from Causeway Improvement Committee (CIP) Coordinator Rick Levick and Stu Ross of the Friends of the Causeway (FOCAS) , Norfolk Council approved $58,000 in funding towards the cost of installing three ecopassages under the County-owned Causeway Road at Long Point. CIP deputation CIP Coordinator Rick Levick addressed Norfolk Council on October 2 in support of the County staff recommendation to approve $58k for the installation of three ecopassages under the Causeway Road this fall. Levick cited the tight timeline for installing the ecopassages before winter frost stops the work and that[…]