Saving Salamanders

A great news story out of Burlington. Councillor Craven is to be commended for his support: “A three-week closure is a small price to pay to preserve a species.” - truly! (from the Hamilton Spectator) - Roads disrupt habitat and certain species are very vulnerable to road kill - Cootes Drive in Hamilton/Dundas is a prime example where road kill of sensitive populations is ongoing - a highway through a marsh is not a good idea!

Burlington closes King Road for salamander season

BURLINGTON The Jefferson salamanders have returned to King Road, forcing the closure of a section of the Burlington road until March 29.

The road is closed at the point where King Road climbs over the Niagara Escarpment. It’s an annual rite to allow the endangered Jefferson salamander safe passage during its annual migration to lay eggs.

Burlington is home to one of the few pockets of Jefferson salamanders in the province.
“We tried voluntary overnight closures as a temporary solution,” saysWard 1 Councillor Rick Craven.

“But with such a small population, losing even a few of these endangered salamanders is too many.

“A three-week closure is a small price to pay to preserve a species.”

According to Conservation Halton, a typical Jefferson salamander colony is small – with a population no more than 100.

Burlington’s Jefferson salamanders spend the winter on one side of King Road, then cross the road to seek temporary ponds formed by spring run-off.

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Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

Jacob Binkley (1806-67), great grandson of Marx [Binkley], built the handsome stone house that still stands at 54 Sanders Blvd at the head of a ravine. The house was completed in 1847 and named Lakelet Vale, as it had a little spring-fed lake at the rear. Binkley's Pond, as it was known, was used for skating, fishing, and good times. It is now the Zone 6 parking lot at McMaster University on the west side of Cootes Drive. Loreen Jerome, The Way We Were "The House that Jacob Built" Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc. (AWWCA) http://www.awwca.ca/articles/ Skater's on Binkley's Pond circa 1917, now a McMaster parking lot

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus. West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity). Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route. The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article. Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

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