Community group floats new Long Point Causeway pathway

A community group has proposed a way to connect Long Point with Port Rowan that would address several ongoing issues.

The Causeway Community Coalition is suggesting a floating pathway be installed on the west side of the causeway.

Birders, hikers, and others would have the benefit of increased safety. At the same time, a pathway would provide emergency access when the Long Point Causeway is flooded or blocked by fallen trees, Ron Rusnak, a spokesperson for the coalition, said.

“The technology for has been available for 30 years,” Rusnak said. “The pathway can float on the surface of the marsh and it can adapt to water levels.

“It is already being used in some of Canada’s national parks.”

A floating boardwalk can be seen in Greenwich National Park on Prince Edward Island.

Rusnak said the proposed pathway would have a low impact on the environment and can be installed without the use of heavy machinery or closure of traffic lanes. It can support an ATV for emergency access and turtles and other wildlife can freely swim underneath it.

Formed in July 2022, the coalition believes a pathway would ease traffic congestion on the causeway and improve vehicular access to Long Point. It would also provide emergency access by way of ATVs, when the causeway becomes impassable because of flooding or fallen trees.

Rusnak first broached the idea with the county in 2019 and two possibilities were explored but rejected.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada rejected a plan to build a pathway because too much fill would be needed to build it.

An idea to install a path using support pillars was shelved because the soil beside the causeway is too unstable for structural pillars.

The coalition believes the floating pathway may be the answer and Rusnak said people in the community are lining up to support the effort.

“We’ve received overwhelming support for a pathway that can provide safe infrastructure that is in everybody’s interest,” Rusnak said.

Rusnak said 14 organizations and businesses are supporting the coalition’s efforts including Pathways For People, Turkey Point Mountain Bike Club, Long Point Region Biosphere and Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“Emergency access to Long Point via the causeway has faced challenging obstacles in the past including flooding, high traffic levels and construction,” Sarah Page, chief of Norfolk County paramedics, said. “We work with our allied first-responders to provide emergency response in any situation including alternative vehicles, marine response and the stationing of first responders in the area when advance notice of a potential hazard exists.”

Page said an alternative pathway that is available and safe for the service’s rapid access vehicle and other first-responders – be they traveling by foot or vehicle – would give them an additional access point to Long Point during an emergency.

Gord Mason, chair of the Pathways for People committee, called the proposal exciting.

“It’s consistent with Norfolk’s official plan to create more multipurpose trails that connect communities,” Mason said. “It meets our committee’s mission of advocating for the development of safe pathways in Norfolk County.”

Rusnak is taking the proposal to Norfolk County council’s council-in-committee meeting on March 21 on behalf of the causeway coalition.

The coalition isn’t looking for funding for the project from Norfolk County. Funding should come from the federal and provincial governments as well as local fundraising.

But the coalition is looking for county support, Rusnak said.

“The county has resources and expertise that we, as a community group, don’t have,” Rusnak said. “We’re hoping that we can get some staff support and benefit from the connections the county has with upper levels of government to help move this along.”

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