Cheers to a query-filled year
YOU ASK. WE ANSWER.
ON THE HIGHWAY
Purple thumbs: The distinct purple glow emanating from Freeman Herbs certified organic facility off the QEW in Grimsby is new dynamic LED lighting. It targets plants with the spectrums of light they require to grow while saving the company energy. Plants use very little of the green and yellow spectrums of light in photosynthesis seen in many greenhouses but they do use red and blue spectrums. The purple glow is a combination of those red and blue colours.
Rare miles: The numbering of highway distance markers and interchange numbers typically start at the south end of a highway but the opposite is true of the 406. When Highway 406 was constructed, it was built in stages that progressed from north to south. That made it necessary to start distance markers at the north end of the QEW.
Light touch up: The Ministry of Transportation is retrofitting provincially-owned traffic signals with LEDs in the signal heads and has been installing LEDS in new conventional lighting systems since 2012. The move to LED is reducing energy consumption in those light fixtures by 80 per cent. Prior to the move, it cost approximately $6.8 million in 2011 to turn on 38,900 lights on the province’s highways.
ON SECOND LOOKS
Car lots: A large field of Volkswagens in the middle of a rural area off McLeod Road in Niagara Falls is one of the storage facilities that Volkswagen Group Canada has contracted to store vehicles bought back from Canadian customers under the terms of the 2.0-litre TDI settlement process. They’ll return to commerce once U.S. regulators approve, and the vehicles receive, an appropriate emissions modification.
Beachy keen: Concrete blocks revealed after flooding earlier this year at Lakeside Park in St. Catharines are most likely concrete bases for lamp posts. Postcards and photos dating back to the early 1900s show a straight line of lights along the waterfront, spaced out in a similar manner to the blocks. The blocks also have marks indicating the remains of bolts.
Puzzle piece: Two giant Rubik’s Cube sculptures at ARPAD Park Hungarian Hall in Niagara Falls on Montrose Road were acquired because they needed a home. The first was built for a Canada Day parade in Toronto and the second for a one-month Embassy of Hungary exhibition in Ottawa. The phenomenally popular puzzle was created in 1974 by a Hungarian professor, Erno Rubik.
ON NATURE
Water way: The clear water at Welland International Flatwater Centre is an all-natural phenomenon. The Welland Recreational Canal where the centre is located is big enough that the water circulates like a mini lake and doesn’t stagnate. The clarity of the water, which comes from Lake Erie, is also caused by zebra mussels which established themselves in the canal about 15 or 20 years ago.
Fishy business: Old Christmas trees and ash trees that have succumbed to the emerald ash borer are being used by Niagara Parks Commission, in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, to help create fish habitat along the Niagara River shoreline. The dead trees placed at the mouth of Baker’s Creek and Ussher’s Creek slow down the water, allowing vegetation to establish and create shelter for small fish.
Squirrel trouble: If you’re lucky enough to spot a true albino squirrel, you’ve had an unusual sighting indeed. According to Hobbitstee Wildlife Refugee, albino squirrels have shorter life expectancies because they aren’t camouflaged like the eastern grey squirrel and are easy pickings for birds of prey. Albino animals also tend to have less robust immune systems, which is another factor in life expectancy.
ON ATTRACTIONS
Flower power: The lush flower baskets that adorn Niagara-on-theLake are built for multi-staged displays so there’s always something different growing at any point from spring to early fall. There were 242 hanging baskets in 2017 which cost an average of $91 each for plant materials only. That’s a total of more than $22,000, not including staff time to create, plant, maintain and water them.
Splish splash: Splash pads undergo regular maintenance by St. Catharines staff, but it doesn’t involve balancing chemical levels like it does for pools. Splash pads are connected to city water — the same water that comes out of your home and drinking fountains — so it’s already chlorinated. It isn’t recirculated and comes through the nozzles and down the drain, back out into the sewer.
Light switch: It takes more than two times longer to put up all the lights for Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls than it does to take them down. Teams from Niagara Parks and the festival spend about 10 to 12 weeks setting up the various installations. The lights stretch eight kilometres from Clifton Hill to Dufferin Islands, with other displays dotted throughout the city.
— Send your queries to Karena Walter by email at kwalter@postmedia.com; by Twitter @karena_standard or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/ karenawalter.