A16 Wednesday, November 27, 2013, Tri-City News
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PORT MANN/HIGHWAY 1: Plantings and stream works among green projects
Lots of green amongst the grey as part of massive road project By Diane Strandberg The Tri-CiTy News
O
ne of the busiest stretches of the Port Mann/ Highway 1 Project is now one of the greenest, thanks to the more than 100,000 plants put in along the Cape Horn interchange. This month marks the completion of greening along the route from the Mary Hill Bypass to Brunette, including the planting of trees on berms, hydro seeding and restoration of creeks and streams where highway widening and overpass construction has taken place. “Environment is primary for us, where we can do it on and off the corridor,” said Greg Johnson, PMH1 communications manager. During the sunny month of October, contractors were able to spray a mixture of grass seed and mulch onto large berms that have been built to create a visual screen for drivers and provide some esthetics along the route. The grass holds the soil in place while the trees will provide a screen and prevent erosion. Drainage measures have also been installed and several different species of native plants were planted, including: cedar, Norwegian spruce, blue spruce, Fraser fir and alder as well as Pacific willow, red ozier dogwood, salmonberry and the flowering Nootka rose. As well, new fish habitat was created in Mundy Creek that has attracted chum salmon this fall, with coho expected to
diane strandberg/the tri-city news
Above, a contractor gets ready to plant a tree on a berm created as part of the Port Mann Highway 1 Project. More than 100,000 trees, shrubs and other native species were planted along the Cape Horn corridor over the past month. Right, Greg Johnson, communications manager, PMH1, with one of the reclaimed areas off the freeway in Coquitlam, where a coho fish rearing channel was created. turn up soon. Although most drivers won’t notice because it’s hidden behind some bushes, there was planting in the southern reaches of Mundy Creek
to create a new rearing area for coho, with tall stumps for birds, and streamside plantings that benefit both fish and wildlife. In addition, fish passage was enhanced under Lougheed Highway with the placing of large box culverts to permit fish to spawn further upstream. According to recent observation, the work has already paid off and salmon are now in the creek. “It’s a channel for young salmon to grow,” Johnson explained, The new channel looks like it has been there for years, with hardy grasses, water plants and shrubs, and there are also signs asking people to report if they see a Pacific water shrew or a red legged frog — both species at risk. Johnson said environmental projects have been on the go since the project got underway in 2003 and another important one was the enhancement of fish habitat in the Wilson Farm area of Colony Farm Regional Park. In April 2012, four species of salmon were identified in the newly enhanced habitat: chinook, chum, coho and pink. “Wilson was a huge success,”Johnson said. Enhancement work in Still Creek in Burnaby has also brought salmon to the area for the first time in decades, according to Johnson, and now with the opening up of Mundy Creek, fish and other wildlife will come to Coquitlam, all eking out a life next to a busy stretch of highway. dstrandberg@tricitynews.com
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