RESTORE COOTES

Somethings all Restore Cootes supporters should know: "Cootes Drive is especially dangerous [for wildlife] because the roadway is between two wetland areas." "This area has been identified as a high mortality area," she said." "So far this year, 14 adults [snapping turtles] were killed trying to cross the road." The historical context that placed Cootes Drive in the middle of an environmentally sensitive biodiversity hotspot in 1936-37 can be seen in retrospect as a huge mistake, and one that the marsh inhabitants pay for daily with their lives. The road certainly wasn't needed in '37, and it probably isn't really needed today: Restore Cootes wants you to think of life without Cootes Drive: it becomes a trade off of a couple minutes extra driving for cars and trucks in exchange for protecting endangered species and rehabilitating one of the most important marsh habitats on Lake Ontario. Here's the full text from the Hami

Archival Footage from the Restore Cootes vault C2006 shows McMaster west campus parking expanded beyond the paved lots M, N O and P onto the grass at the north east of the campus. Part of the reason McMaster was considering repaving the closed section of Lot M was for "overflow" events (usually stimulated by free parking offers for things like May at Mac) - obviously some of the overflow parking can be managed first by not giving away free parking and buffing-up transit alternatives, but there is a precedent to use a temporary parking area on grass for the few hours a year, literally, that the occasion demands.