Kitchener’s Stauffer Dr. to close so salamanders can cross the road safely
Posted Mar 13, 2015 06:14:02 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A section of Stauffer Drive in Kitchener will close this weekend for seven weeks.
This will be the third year in a row the city of Kitchener has closed Stauffer Drive between South Creek Drive and Caryndale Drive to ensure the salamander crosses the road safely.
In all of Canada, Salamanders are found in only 30 sites in Ontario. Environmental crews found the creature was crossing into a new habitat on an annual basis and using Stauffer Drive to get across.
“We were aware, based on their biology of the habitats that they were using” says Barbara Steiner, Senior Environmental Planner with the City of Kitchener. “Some movement studies were conducted by environmental consultants to determine that they were in fact crossing the road in that location.”
Over the next five years, this section of roadway will eventually become a community trail to preserve the other wildlife in that area.
Stauffer drive will be closed starting this weekend until May 1st.
