Wildlife Detection Systems, Highway 3, British Columbia: Real-time warning systems for protecting wildlife and drivers

Highway 3 is the most southern trans-provincial highway in British Columbia. It is a key national transportation link for trade, industry and tourism between the Pacific Ocean and the rest of Canada. Along the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, Highway 3 transects critical wildlife habitat corridors that run between Canada and the United States (Figure 1). Many iconic North American ungulates and carnivores use these corridors to survive. Traffic on Highway 3 represents a serious impediment to the safe movement across the highway for many species of wildlife. Concurrently, the larger wildlife represent a significant potential hazard for drivers (Figure 2). As part of the 2015 Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review conducted by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (BCMoTI), the Highway 3 corridor, between Cranbrook and the Alberta border, was identified as having one of the highest densities of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the province. Presently, the mountainous terrain and extensively fragmented land tenure preclude the construction of wildlife exclusion systems along this corridor. To test alternative technological solutions, to protect both wildlife and drivers, BCMoTI developed specifications for a wildlife detection system (WDS) (Figures 3 and 4) and installed two systems on Highway 3, one near Elko and the other near Sparwood (Figure 5). Despite numerous technological, environmental and operational challenges, the project was delivered on budget and on time. Since going live in 2016, the systems have proven to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions while maintaining critical wildlife habitat connectivity.

• Record URL:
  http://www.tac-atc.ca/sites/default/files/conf_papers/bcmoti_-_tac_2017_environmental_achievement_award_submission.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)

  401-1111 Prince of Wales Drive
  Ottawa, Ontario  Canada 
• Authors:
  • Sielecki, L
• Conference:
  • TAC 2017: Investing in Transportation: Building Canada's Economy - - 2017 Conference and Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada
• Publication Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Pagination: 1 PDF file, 1.7 MB, 11p.
• Monograph Title: TAC 2017: Investing in Transportation: Building Canada's Economy - - 2017 Conference and Exhibition of the Transportation Association of Canada

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Animals; Case studies; Conferences; Crashes; Detection and identification; Environmental protection; Highways; Roadside fauna; Safety; Warning systems; Wildlife
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• ITRD Terms: 2459: Animal; 8018: Canada; 8531: Case study; 1631: Collision; 8525: Conference; 9115: Detection; 2755: Highway; 2448: Nature protection; 1665: Safety; 9113: Warning; 2449: Wildlife crossing
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I15: Environment; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01668480
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Files: ITRD, TAC
• Created Date: May 3 2018 3:16PM