The Interstate-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project is building a corridor to restore the natural flow and function of waterways in Washington and will reconnect fish like trout to the habitat they’ve been cut off from for decades.Īnimal bridges are a step in the right direction in creating harmony between modernization and animal life. There are even aquatic corridors linking waterways now separated by roads. Building more of these corridors could also ease the human-elephant tensions throughout India. Underpasses in Africa, too, are assisting large animals like elephants in reuniting members of fragmented herds. "There are many many needs in transportation across the state and this is just one of them." "Roads all over the state run right through these migration paths, when they go back and forth a lot of animals are hit on the highway every year," reported Joe Lewandowski, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Remote photos show that the passageway is used by deer, coyotes, raccoons, and other small animals daily. They tend to be more compact and are used more by smaller animals.Īn underpass beneath Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield in Colorado was completed in 2016. In addition to overpasses or animal bridges, many places have wildlife crossings that go beneath roadways. "In some places, we've seen up to a 90 percent reduction in vehicle-animal collisions where these have been built, so they tend to be really successful," Polansky continued. Then use that information to determine where the best place for the crossing structures might be." how they're behaviors might be affected by the highway. "We can get an idea of where these animals are naturally existing," said Kara Polansky of the Denver Zoo and the Colorado Corridors Project. Local project leaders installed motion-capture cameras to help document the wildlife and their travel patterns. One particularly treacherous area of Colorado - along the highway I-70 - is a prime location for increased wildlife crossings. Any details that encourage the animals to use the crossings also increases the likelihood that adults will teach their offspring to use them, too. Optimally, engineers design the bridges to be inexpensive (so there can be many) and natural-looking so as to not frighten the animals.įencing is installed leading up to the crossings in order to direct wildlife to the area. The idea behind animal bridges is to give native animals a way to get across roads without endangering themselves. How These Futuristic Wildlife Crossings Work The Netherlands alone has 66 overpasses to protect its wildlife populations namely badgers, boars, and deer. But certainly, wildlife health and conservation plays a large part. This may be prompted, in part, by the fact that Americans shell out nearly $8 billion annually for vehicle-animal collisions. However, the United States and Canada have picked up the pace on construction considerably over the past 30 years. The idea of wildlife bridges aren't really new in fact, they've been springing up throughout Europe since the 1950s. This leaves wildlife with little choice other than to attempt to traverse dangerous roads. Highways often cut animals off from resources they rely on for survival. Thanks to our ever-expanding roads, wildlife habitats are becoming increasingly fragmented. Indeed, there is a lot more at stake than just roadkill. These wildlife crossings reduce fatalities for both animals and humans alike. That's why conservationists and architects got together to engineer animal bridges over busy highways for our wild animal friends. When nature meets asphalt, it's rarely a good thing.
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