Being a toad is difficult as it is, but imagine having to cross a highway as cars zoom by with tiny little legs.
Western toads face numerous challenges, and one of the most significant is the perilous journey to their breeding grounds.
On Vancouver Island, the plight of these small creatures has not gone unnoticed, leading to innovative solutions to ensure their safety.
In 2021, BC’s Ministry of Transportation constructed a series of tunnels under the road network west of Duncan, designed specifically to aid the migration of toads to their breeding grounds at Wake Lake.
Roads are particularly dangerous for toads during their migration to breeding grounds.
As they move during their migration to breeding grounds, they encounter numerous obstacles, including busy highways.
These roads not only pose a risk of being run over by vehicles but also disrupt their natural migratory paths.
The drive to reach their breeding grounds is instinctual, and toads will attempt to cross anything in their way, leading to high mortality rates during these critical periods.
To address this issue, the Cowichan Valley tunnel project focused on expanding two existing culverts to provide safer passage. Additionally, two new culverts were constructed in areas identified as having high mortality rates for toads.
These tunnels offer a safe passageway for the toads, significantly reducing the number of fatalities during migration. However, ensuring the toads use these passages, a culvert fence was installed along the road to direct them to the tunnel.
A similar project was completed under Highway 4 between Tofino and Ucluelet in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve a year earlier.
Construction crews installed three 17-metre-long tunnels under Highway 4 so that northern red-legged frogs could safely cross the two-lane road to reach their breeding grounds.
Listed as a species of special concern, the frogs favour wetland and forest habitats and must cross the road to reach Swan Lake, about half a kilometre away. The four-hectare wetland is a breeding ground for the frogs and other amphibians.
Each year, hundreds of these tiny creatures die crossing the road.
With these new ‘toad roads’ in places, hundreds of adult toads lives will be spared as they begin their migration in late spring or summer.
