In many ways, the McIntyre Passing Lanes project is much like any of our other projects. We’re widening a section of Highway 97, just north of Oliver, so we can put in passing lanes and wider shoulders, and make things generally safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. It’s just another way we’re making it safer and easier for people to travel.
But there are other parts of this project that make it stand out a little from the others. Like its distinctive setting. This area is home to an important antelope brush ecosystem. If you haven’t heard of antelope brush before, don’t feel bad. This is actually one of the few of its kind in the province. And it brings with it all kinds of critters that rely on the brush, like scorpions and a type of field mouse that lives among the bush’s roots.
Of course, this area is also a desert, and what would a desert be without snakes? Lots of snakes. Big ones, small ones, poisonous ones, ones that had to be relocated by hand… but we can’t give away the whole story here. Check out the video to hear the story straight from the folks working on the site.
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