The hope is that the increased barriers along with a dedicated wildlife overpass will funnel animals safely over the highway. The new bridge will be part of a bigger improvement project that includes more fencing. They reasoned animals started walking the fence line until it terminated, then crossed the highway there, effectively moving the problem further down the highway. It was a short-lived success.Īccording to a report from the Salt Lake Tribune, officials saw a temporary dip, then a return to a high number of incidences. UDOT matched the funds and built the fence last fall. The response was overwhelming, the group collected $50,000 for a mile-long fence. Save People, Save Wildlife launched to fund raise for construction of a fence to keep wildlife off the interstate. Wildlife problems and safety along I-80 were such a concern, a non-profit launched in 2015 dedicated to finding a solution. It spans more than three times the length of the I-15 bridges, stretching over six lanes of traffic and a median. Built in 1975, UDOT estimates almost 600 mule deer use the overpasses to safely cross each year.īut the I-80 stretch will be much longer. In an effort to reduce accidents involving wildlife on a busy highway, Utah officials. Two overpasses crossing I-15 were among the earliest wildlife bridges in North America. Utahs wildlife overpass over I-80 has seen a variety of animals using it, including moose, deer and bears. The Parleys Summit wildlife bridge will not be the first highway crossing for animals in the state. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources used trail cameras to film the. It will cross I-80 near Parleys Summit, about 20 miles east of Salt Lake City. of the animals crossing over the Parleys Canyon Wildlife Overpass in Utah. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources shared this awesome video that has captured all walks of life crossing the bridge in the the three years it has been in use. The planned 345-foot bridge will be 19 feet high and 45 feet wide. Last month, the Utah Department of Transportation proposed a $5 million wildlife bridge to cross one of the interstate’s deadliest and most costly “hot spots.” Inevitably, wildlife and humans collide - literally. Interstate 80 runs east-to-west through Utah, cutting through mountains, canyons, creeks, and forests. As time progresses, the vegetation on the overpass will grow to resemble the nearby forest. Picture taken approximately 2000, three years after passages were installed. This week, a total of 12 steel beams were placed over I-80, weighing a. Wildlife overpass (known as the Wolverine Overpass) across the Trans Canada Highway, in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. It also cost 778 moose, elk, and deer their lives. The new wildlife overpass in Parleys Canyon will reduce collisions and help keep drivers as well as area wildlife safe. ( WATCH the video showing the wildlife crossings so far.Utah’s I-80 received $5 million from the USDOT to plan a wildlife crossing over the highway.Ī 12-mile stretch of Utah highway cost Utahns more than $7.7 million in accidents alone in the last five years. RELATED: Green Overpass Will Let Wildlife Cross 6 Lanes of HighwayĬollisions with cars are a real danger to millions of animals, but even 15 years ago, there were already more than 700 terrestrial and aquatic wildlife crossing points in North America, with more and more being built every year, including the largest in the world to help California’s isolated mountain lion populations, which is to be completed in 2021. The wildlife overpass was constructed over a six-lane section of I-80 by the Utah Department of Transportation in 2018 for a cost of five million dollars. A cougar was recorded scratching and stretching on one of the logs, which it wouldn’t do in a stressed state. Not only are the animals using it instead of crossing the highway further down the corridor, but they are treating it like their natural habitat. The bridge incorporates miles of fencing in both directions on both sides of the road, funneling mammals to the bridge which is covered in soil, boulders, and logs to make it feel like a natural environment. of Transportation and costing $5 million, the wildlife overpass was lobbied for by a group called Save People Save Animals, after a particular stretch of i-80 was unfortunately dubbed “Slaughter Row” due to the large number of traffic collisions with crossing wildlife.
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