Road construction on Highway 12 should wrap up by the end of the week and it will include new features meant to help the turtle population.
Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation says its installing specially designed fences, nesting materials and extending a culvert under the highway.
These additions are meant to help turtles get from Lake Simcoe to the wetland in Tudhope Park.
“Escape ramps will also be installed in the fencing to allow turtles that find themselves on the highway side of the fence to escape to either the lake or wetland,” a ministry spokesperson says.
Public concern over the turtles living along Highway 12 in Orillia spurred the action by the MTO.
Work on the fencing is expected to wrap up before the spring.
