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AUTHOR(S):
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T.M. McGuire - Terry_McGuire@pch.gc.ca
Parks Canada
Highway
Service Centre
Calgary, AB, Canada
J.F. Morrall - morrall@ucalgary.ca
University of Calgary
Department of Civil Engineering
Calgary, AB, Canada
Acknowledgements
This paper is based on the findings of research projects sponsored by the
Highway Service Centre, Parks Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada under grant A7985.
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This paper describes two highway
engineering techniques that have been developed or adopted to mitigate the
unique environmental impact highways and roads have within Canadian Rocky
Mountain National Parks, which are also World Heritage Sites. The first is
the development of the passing lane system on the Trans Canada Highway in the Rocky Mountain Parks to defer four-laning (twinning). The second example is the twinning of
18.6 km of the Trans
Canada Highway within Banff National
Park.
Twinning represents a logical next step following the passing lane phase. The
paper describes how highway improvements were developed to address and
mitigate numerous potential twinning impacts identified during environmental
assessment. Included within the environmental mitigation were a series of
measures, such as fencing and animal crossing structures, to address wildlife
movement, biodiversity, and mortality as well as stream, terrain, and
vegetation disturbance minimization techniques. Research has found that the
mitigation measures have been effective in reducing wildlife/vehicle
collisions by 97% for some species.
Keywords: Highways, national park, environment, mitigations
Ref: 6-18
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