Cootes trail closing two weeks for rehab project at Spencer Creek

The public trail along Spencer Creek by Cootes Drive is set to close for two weeks as part of a $185,000 effort to create better spawning areas for walleye, salmon, trout, pike and other fish.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority has hired Acton-based contractor R&M Construction to do the work, scheduled to begin Aug. 20, weather permitting.

“We’re hoping that it brings in more diversity of fish and hopefully will attract some of the walleye to start moving upstream and start spawning as well,” said Scott Peck, the authority’s deputy chief administrative officer.

The restoration is adding a series of pools and rapids, clusters of boulders, overhanging brush and boxlike wooden structures embedded in the creek bank to provide fish refuge from the sun and predators.

It covers three sections of the creek east of Thorpe Street, with the upper portion by Thorpe for salmon habitat, the middle for walleye, and the lower area closest to Cootes Drive for pike and other fish.

Peck said theproject has been timed to avoid spawning seasons and will contribute to the remediation of Hamilton Harbour by providing the necessary habitat for fish to rebound. It is possible thanks to a $130,000 grant from a special provincial fund to clean up Lake Ontario.

R&M Construction, which specializes in restoring waterways, has already done work for the authority, successfully restoring man-made fishing ponds at Christie Lake to a more natural creek state.