Announcement comes month after Wildlife Crossings Act veto
By Mike Lynch
The state Department of Transportation has received a federal grant for a two-part study to look at ways to reduce wildlife-vehicle accidents and improve habitat connectivity.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced the $323,850 grant on Friday as one of 16 projects in 16 states. Overall the FHWA doled out $125 million in funding.
“Too many Americans are injured or killed each year in crashes involving cars and wildlife, especially in rural areas—which is why our department created the first-ever program dedicated to crossings that make roads and highways safer for both humans and wildlife,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The first phase of the study in New York will be to locate and map hot spots of wildlife-vehicle collisions, identify habitat improvement zones along state roadways and designate wildlife corridors, according to the FHWA announcement. The second phase will develop a standardized decision-making process for improving roadway safety and habitats for humans and animals.
The state DOT did not immediately respond to a query from the Adirondack Explorer regarding the study.
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Adirondack environmental groups praised the grant and the possibility of new wildlife crossings in the future.
“Having safe opportunities for road crossings are critical for many species of wildlife in and around the Adirondack Park, including animals with large territorial ranges, such as moose, deer and bear. We hope that this is a step towards better wildlife crossing infrastructure throughout the Adirondacks,” said Claudia Braymer, deputy director of Protect the Adirondacks.
Adirondack Council’s Senior Communications Specialist Justin Levine called the grant “good news,” particularly in light of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s veto of the Wildlife Crossings Act last month.
Hochul vetoed a wildlife crossing bill that would have required the DOT and the Thruway Authority to take similar steps outlined by the federal grant. The state law would have also required the state to create a priority list of 10 crossing site projects within two years. That list would have had to be pared to five projects that the study would use for pursuing federal grants.
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“Improving wildlife crossings will help people by minimizing animal-vehicle collisions and reducing insurance rates, and animals will benefit from the identification of wildlife habitat corridors in the Adirondacks and beyond,” Levine said.
In the Northeast, Maine received the most money through the grant process, getting $9.3 million to build a wildlife crossing for moose, deer and other large wildlife in the city of Caribou near the Canadian border. The crossing will be through a concrete arch culvert and allow a stream to pass under two roads, improving passage for both terrestrial and aquatic species.
I often wonder how effective wider roadway right-of-ways would be in helping with wildlife collisions. Perhaps doubling the open area ROW through woodsy areas would have two effects. First, it would improve motorist visibility – assuming they are even paying attention to driving. Second, woodland species tend to stop at the edge of the forest before they start to cross an open area.
Obviously, a frightened/startled animal that thinks it is being chased will pay no attention and keep charging across. And many species will be attracted to the open area to graze or whatever. I would like to see simple studies on this type of roadway management and accident statistics. Obviously, it would involve more cutting of trees, but may be a halfway measure to installing physical crossing structures.
As vehicles are becoming more like super-computers, perhaps IR camera technology coupled with AI software can be employed or refined to scan for IR targets as well as detecting vehicles for collision avoidance. Or stretches of roadway can be monitored by installations that scan and detect larger animals and send this info wirelessly to a computer in the car. In the modern world, it seems camera/computer technology is often a less-expensive solution to larger infrastructure modifications to roadways.
Oh well, doubt I will live long enough to see any reduction of wildlife carnage on our highways.
Route 30 in southern hamilton county needs to have brush and trees removed along sides of road and growing up between guardrails. Give drivers a chance to see wildlife before they get in highway. It is a disgrace how bad it is. Fulton county does a great job trimming roadside.