EVALUATION OF MEASURES TO MINIMIZE WILDLIFE-VEHICLE COLLISIONS AND MAINTAIN WILDLIFE PERMEABILITY ACROSS HIGHWAYS IN ARIZONA, USA

Major construction upgrades are underway along a 28km section of State Route 260 in central Arizona, which exhibits a high rate of collisions (e.g., >4km/year) between wildlife, primarily Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus), and vehicles. As this highway is being upgraded from a narrow two-lane roadway to a four-lane divided highway, 12 sets of large underpasses (in addition to 5 sets of bridges) are being constructed to facilitate wildlife passage across the highway corridor and minimize the incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Construction is being accomplished in 5 stages, with the first 8-km section with two underpasses completed in 2001 and the second 12-km section with five underpasses nearing completion. Limited elk-proof fencing has been erected in association with the completed underpasses and those under construction, and alternatives to fencing (e.g., large boulder rip-rap and steep cut slopes) are also being applied. This research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of the underpasses, fencing, and other measures in reducing the incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions and maintaining wildlife permeability. The findings are being applied though adaptive management to make modifications to underpass design and fencing to increase use by wildlife. The primary objectives of this research project, ongoing since 2002, are to: (1) determine the effectiveness of the full complement of measures to minimize the incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions along State Route 260; (2) evaluate the degree to which wildlife permeability across the highway is maintained; and (3) provide ongoing construction implementation guidance to Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) project managers throughout all construction phases.

• Record URL:
  http://www.icoet.net/downloads/03AnimalVehicleCollision.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • The complete proceedings are available at: http://www.itre.ncsu.edu/cte/icoet
• Corporate Authors:

  New York State Department of Transportation

  1220 Washington Avenue
  Albany, NY  United States  12232

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Dodd, N L
  • Gagnon, J W
  • Schweinsburg, R E
• Conference:
  • 2003 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2003)
  • Location: Lake Placid New York, United States
  • Date: 2009-8-24 to 2009-8-29
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 2p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Adaptive control; Animal migrations; Animals; Construction; Crashes; Fences; Mammals; Permeability; Structures; Underpasses; Wildlife
• Geographic Terms: Arizona
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Design; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00969087
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 5 2004 12:00AM