After absences of up to 75 years or more, bald eagles and peregrine falcons are once again being seen in the skies over the Niagara Peninsula and river otters and beavers in its river courses. Their return, which is part of a natural decolonization that has been going on over the past decade, may be threatened by the proposed mid-peninsula highway and the development expected to follow its construction.
The Niagara Region has been pressing for the highway, which some believe may be necessary to relieve pressure on the fruitlands along the south shore of Lake Ontario and to encourage development south of that area. The region and other proponents of the highway see it as a way of lessening congestion on the Queen Elizabeth Way, which runs through the heart of the fruitlands.
However, it is the peninsula's south end, especially the Port Colborne - Fort Erie area - where abandoned farmland has been slowly returning to a natural state - that has been offering habitat for returning species, particularly the beaver and otter. The south end is also the area through which the new highway would run and in which development would be encouraged.
Opponents of the highway claim that the QEW would still likely be widened from six to eight lanes and that the Niagara Region can reach its goals by investing in public transit and encouraging more orderly development.
C2001 Peter D.A. Warwick
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