Protections for Bank Street widening decades too late, says naturalist
Street will be closed through Findlay Creek for at least 6 months later this year
Stu Mills · CBC News
Posted: May 10, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
People who live and work in Ottawa's south end are bracing for a major road construction project that will close Bank Street through the Findlay Creek area for at least six months this year.
The city is widening Bank Street from two to four lanes from south of Leitrim Road to south of Blais Road. Work is expected to last from some time in June until December.
Crews will need to dig to a depth of seven metres so water and sewer lines can run beneath the street.
It's work that will take place in what was once a provincially significant wetland, which will require the removal of fish from Findlay Creek and the management of a panoply of protected species.
Even ecologists who pushed back in the 1990s against proposed development on what's been called an "ancient, ecological time capsule" say this latest $50-million dig can't do any more harm than what's already been done.
"There's nothing left. It's been transformed from any shred of naturalness," said Dan Brunton, a widely published naturalist who worked as an independent ecological consultant for 40 years.
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...stem-1.7199118