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CEA in the News |
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'Preferred' wildlife crossing over Ojibway Parkway would cost $13M, stop at railway tracks Brian Cross • Windsor Star / April 29, 2021 The “preferred” option for a wildlife crossing over Ojibway Parkway would cost an estimated $4 million more than originally forecasted, yet falls short of the more expansive crossing environmentalists had been hoping for. In fact, none of the four options being presented this month in the next phase of the environmental assessment for the crossing includes a way to also cross the ETR railway tracks that run parallel to the parkway. The preferred design is a $13-million four-span bridge, 50 metres wide, with gradual slopes on both sides, providing a safe route for animals over the parkway but not the tracks. In the first public consultation for the project last fall, the public’s main suggestions were to install fencing to funnel wildlife towards the crossing and prevent them from getting onto the parkway, and to extend the crossing over the railway tracks. The design now includes a two-part fencing system comprised of a chain-link fence plus a shorter “reptile exclusion fence.” But extending the bridge over the tracks has been rejected. “The study will proceed on the assumption that the western slope of the wildlife overpass will end at the Ojibway Trail, east of railway yard,” the documents for Phase 2 of the environmental assessment say. People wishing to provide comment on the crossing design have until Monday. The rejection is a blow for environmental groups that had been arguing for a crossing that provides a safe route for animals between Ojibway Park and Black Oak Heritage Park and improves habitat connectivity in the Ojibway Prairie Complex. “It’s disappointing that an environmental assessment would actually not assess all the possible options,” said Citizens Environment Alliance executive director Derek Coronado. “We’re of the opinion that a full crossing to limit the habitat fragmentation would have included the railway tracks. It’s kind of like just dumping habitat and species on a boulevard rather than going fully across something that cuts up their territory.” Paul Morand, the City of Windsor engineer involved in the EA process, said the biggest goal right now is designing a crossing over the parkway, because that’s where a lot of animal deaths are occurring. The road carries 20,000 vehicles a day. “Once they cross Ojibway Parkway, this bridge structure would still end right before the tracks because we don’t own the parcel on the west side of the tracks,” he said. “The ETR still owns that. It would be a very long span if we tried to cross everything.” But he added the parkway crossing will be designed so a parallel crossing over the tracks could be added in the future. The city will be monitoring for animal activity and mortality on the tracks. “In order to move ahead with this we wanted to just cross Ojibway Parkway right now, but we do have the option of putting another span from the boulevard over the tracks.” The EA is being funded thanks to $250,000 from the Gordie Howe International Bridge, part of $1.5 million promised in seed funding for a wildlife crossing over the parkway. Morand said the preliminary all-in cost for the fine-tuned preferred design is $13 million, considerably more than the original all-in estimate of $9 million, which included $7.5 million for the crossing. He said that after receiving comments for this latest round, a draft environmental study report should be finished in June. That will be published for 30 days, inviting final comments. A final report should be done some time in the summer, and would then go to council for endorsement. The city will also go looking for additional funding from such sources as the provincial and federal government, he said, explaining there are many grant programs available for this type of project. “And whatever difference (between the project’s cost and available grants) we would have to go to council to make up the difference.” © Copyright (c) Windsor Star |