Information on the work the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure does to improve wildlife safety and mitigation on our highways.
Keeping an eye out for wildlife on the highway while you’re driving can prevent hazards to you both. And to help you in your travels, we’ve compiled some handy tips on how you can treat all of B.C.’s wild creatures with care and improve your safety while driving on the highway: Be extra careful in the early morning, or at dusk and during the night. These times are when animals are most likely to be on the road. Slow...
Most people in B.C. are familiar with the “leaping deer” depicted on provincial highway signs. But people travelling on Highway 97 south of Williams Lake and Quesnel may see deer signs with extra dazzle being tested in a pilot project by the ministry. Here, solar-powered LED lights that flash around the perimeter of six signs, are expected to make drivers extra aware that they are travelling through a stretch that’s highly popular with deer. The signs alert northbound and...
Much like a cold glass of lemonade after yet another spring cleaning completed, volunteering leaves us with a sense of satisfaction and purpose like no other. Refreshing! Better still, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure volunteers and partners get a chance to see others enjoy the fruits of their labours firsthand. In celebration of National Volunteer Week, we’re taking a look back at some of the recent ways the ministry, local contractors and community partners have made, and continue to...
Fish and fowl in the Lower Mainland can flip, flop and flap for joy because of habitat enhancements being done at the Colony Farm Regional Park, one of many projects being undertaken as part of the Port Mann Highway 1 Project (PMH1). Although our focus is highway safety, the PMH1 project has given us some special opportunities to ‘branch out’ beyond the highway. The Colony Farm Restoration and Enhancement Project aims to restore tidal flows in the Wilson Farm...
The removal of Mountain Pine Beetle-killed trees from areas along the right of way on highways and other routes is now part of our annual project regime. This year approximately 40 kilometres of roadway along Highway 16 near Smithers BC were identified as having Mountain Pine Beetle-killed trees. Local hired equipment and hand fallers, hired to complete the work through the Ministry’s day labour program target and cut down identified dead and diseased trees. Trees are removed by machine...
You hear a lot about how we’re trying to make the roads safer for people. But what about animals? Well, it turns out we’re doing a lot there, too. It’s a challenge, but it’s one we take seriously, and we work with university professors, wildlife biologists and other industry leaders to come up with new ideas. Like fencing off mineral licks, for example. These licks are just areas in the soil that have high levels of minerals like sodium,...
Many areas around the province have seen a notable increase in bear activity recently due, in part, to the late arrival of spring. Snow is slow to melt on the mountainsides and many of these hungry giants are now lumbering downhill to search for their spring greens. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is constantly looking for ways to be bear aware and reduce danger to wildlife, big and small, along our highways. Here are some ways we help...
If you are travelling over Kootenay Pass on Highway 3, you could see the majestic mountain caribou. A small herd of about 40 animals travels year-round across the pass summit. To reduce the chances of close encounters of the collision kind, warning signs have been installed in the seven-kilometre area. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Environment developed the enhanced signs for the “Caribou Corridor,” to protect motorists and this species at risk. Large...
National Wildlife Week is a great time to remind travelers to be careful and watch out for wildlife along our roads. But we also want to mark the occasion by sharing a story with you about one species we encountered with an unstoppable drive to travel. I’m sure you’ve probably encountered some form of wildlife in your travels – a deer, a rabbit, a moose or a bear. Something large and easily seen. But there are a lot of...
Well now that warmer temperatures have arrived in some areas, so have some of the other little creatures we expect to see each spring, in particular, ticks. Just the other day, one of our field staff advised that ticks have recently been spotted, out in the Lillooet area. Since our first notification a couple weeks ago, others have reported coming in contact with these dastardly creatures around the interior and south coast. Although this may seem to be...
