Dear Mayor and Council:
Could I please request that the Town of Oliver ask for an official presentation from MOTI on their proposal for the McIntyre Hwy Expansion? I would very much like to learn more about it, as many other residents I’m sure would too. I did not have enough time during their Open House to learn enough about it, and have many concerns about this proposal.
I’m all for improving Hwys and making them safer, but I also think there needs to be careful thought as to the environmental impacts of where the Hwy expansions are implemented. The McIntyre location is a biodiversity hotspot and I would like to learn more about the kinds of studies MOTI has done to prove that the proposed location is relatively harmless to the ecology of the area.
Some questions to ask of MOTI;
· Has there been an environmental impact assessment done? By whom? Can the public view it and where?
· The McIntyre Bluff corridor is listed as a Biodiversity Hotspot by RDOS and MoE. What does this mean? And what are the implications of increasing the road size and destroying important habitat?
· How many studies on road mortality of Species at Risk have been done along this corridor? As a driver, I have lost count of the number of dead snakes I’ve seen along there, along with a dead Lewis’s Woodpecker, all listed as Species at Risk.
· What are the implications to Species at Risk (birds hit windshields, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians getting run over)of having the Hwy expanded?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Paula Rodriguez de la Vega, BSc.
250-485-4382