Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Transportation recently shared an update on how the I-25 South Gap Project is helping animals and humans successfully coexist throughout the rural stretch between Denver to Colorado Springs.

It's been five years since the collaborative project first broke ground, and now with substantial completion underway, both CPW and CDOT are excited to see how their efforts are positively impacting Colorado.

A scary CDOT statistic states that nearly 4,000 animal-vehicle crashes take place annually in Colorado, which equates to approximately one per day. With that in mind, it called for action from those who could do something.

The wildlife mitigation system is part of a transportation improvement project benefitting drivers by increasing the safety of traveling on I-25. Thousands of drivers travel along that particular stretch of roadway each day, and one of the goals of the wildlife corridor project is to reduce animal vs. vehicle collisions by 90%.

Five years into the project there are already four brand new, and one refurbished wildlife underpasses that have been constructed. These wildlife underpasses are some of the largest in North America.

Besides the designated wildlife underpasses, the plan includes placing 28 miles of deer fencing and deer guards and jump-outs along the interstate. The team said that 87% of the fencing has already been installed. In the meantime, a digital sign has been put along the corridor to caution drivers of potential wildlife in the area.

So far, wildlife including bears, elk, and small game have all been seen using the five underpasses which means they are doing their job. Not only are the animals traveling safer to their destinations, but motor vehicles face less of a risk of hitting them.

CPW
CPW
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Future plans include adding another wildlife underpass south of the Greenland Road interchange in Larkspur on I-25. Although CDOT is designing the next underpass, they do not have funding for construction yet.

Read a more thorough report about the update to the mitigation project from CDOT here.

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