KEPO Access Road Removal Planned
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 15 September 2023
Work will be starting the week of September 18th to remove a former access road in the bay left over from the construction of Tekakwitha Island. Local contractor Mohawk Painting was selected through a competitive bidding process to complete the work which, according to The Kahnawà:ke Environment Protection (KEPO) Office, is expected to take approximately eight weeks. A staging area will be established on the Island, and the work will be done from a barge in the bay. KEPO is asking that community members using the bike path on the Island be aware that there will be truck traffic in the area while the work is being performed.
The access road was discovered during the dredging component of the Recreation Bay project, which was intended to increase water flow in the bay. The roadbed, which stretches across the bay, prevented the dredging work from being completed in the area. KEPO will be overseeing environmental procedures to ensure that risk to wildlife is minimized during the work, with the removal of the rock and boulder material from the roadbed increasing depths and helping to achieve the intended increase in flow.
This work is being undertaken as part of KEPO’s Entewahnekahserón:ni’ – ‘We are Rejuvenating the Water,’ project. The project aims to improve habitat in Recreation Bay and creeks throughout the community. The project is funded by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) through the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Fund (AERF).
