Updates and behind the scenes information around our environmental initiatives, projects and programs, including wildlife mitigation, biking, Adopt-a-Highway and more.
Now that the two Wildlife Detection Systems on Highway 3 have been operating for about three months (as of July 2016), we thought you’d be interested is seeing some of the thermal camera footage we’ve captured showing the system safely guiding interactions between vehicles and animals. How do these thermal cameras work? They create images based on heat radiating from animals and objects such as vehicles. There are nine thermal cameras set up in each wildlife detection corridor, and...
We’re battling invasive plants along BC highways, and we’re enlisting Adopt a Highway volunteers to keep these unwelcome intruders from capturing more territory. Adopt a Highway volunteers are our allies in the attack; because they’re on the ground on assigned sections of BC highways. To arm them for managing invasive weeds, we’ve got a new video showing how to spot, report and remove invasive weeds. The pulling weeds part is optional, but for groups that want to jump in...
Sometimes we work on a project that changes not just the highway, but the world around it. Such was the case with our recent work on scenic Highway 95 at Luxor Creek. A key wildlife corridor connecting important animal habitats between the Purcell and Rocky Mountains is a step closer to reality thanks, in part, to the new Luxor Creek Bridge. To say we are thrilled to be a part of making it happen is an understatement (normally, our...
Plug in. Charge up. Go! Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) can get a boost to their travel times thanks to recent legislation allowing them to use High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) lanes in BC (regardless of the number of passengers being carried). HOV lanes were created to move more people in fewer vehicles, reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. HOV lanes are in place on several provincial highways and urban corridors in the Lower Mainland and Kelowna. Allowing EVs to...
UPDATE March 7, 2017 When we pilot a new project like this, we do so with the intent to test, learn and with understanding that there may be some bumps along the way. Those “bumps” help us smooth out any challenges the project might have before it becomes a permanent or large scale installation. We’ve recently had one of those bumps in our Wildlife Detection System pilot project near Elko. Radars along this particular corridor depend on their antenna...
If you want to attract fish, you need to think like a fish (or so the old adage goes). Until recently, any fish swimming up Heart Creek under BC Highway 6 in Fauquier might have been thinking that the world was conspiring against them. That’s because the culvert carrying Heart Creek under the highway had been badly undercut from scouring during freshet runoff in recent years, making spawning upstream of it almost impossible. Fear not little fishes! That pesky...
If you have travelled BC Highway 3 lately, you might have noticed some special looking signs and equipment being installed at the side of the road. What’s the scoop? Well, because deer, elk, and moose can sometimes wander onto B.C.’s highways and have the potential to cause serious crashes, we are piloting two new high-tech wildlife detection systems on Highway 3 to help keep both motorists and wildlife safe. How do they work? When large animals approach the highway,...
Wild animals love British Columbia. Of course they do – it’s varied terrain makes it a haven for beasts and creatures of all shapes and sizes. Both small and large species, from the gigantic moose to the night-crawling raccoon, pose potential hazards for drivers, and vise versa. A large animal can make a serious impact, while a smaller animal can startle a driver into swerving and losing control of their vehicle. It’s our job to prevent animals and drivers...
