How many times have you had to slam on the breaks because an
animal ran into the road? And how many of those times have your reflexes not
been quick enough? Roadkill is a tragic reality of today’s car culture.
According to Co.Design, vehicle-animal collisions cost Americans a massive $8
billion a year. That’s one expensive reality; however, innovative design can
help.
In 2010, Balmori Associates, a New York City landscape
design firm, proposed building simple, inexpensive wooden bridges over
highways, then covering them in native vegetation to create a wildlife
crosswalk. Each bridge would be so wide and the greenery so diverse, it would
appear like an extension of the forest, and animals, the thinking goes, would
be less inclined to cross the road, resulting in fewer accidents (Kuang, Co.Design).
Following this proposal, Balamori Associates came up with the ARC International
Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition which was the “first-ever
international design competition…intended to solve the problem of ensuring safe
travel for humans and wildlife” (Kuang, Co.Design). The main idea is to keep
the bridge as low-tech and cost-effective as possible so it can be constructed
anywhere in the United States without disrupting the road or the
environment.
ARC—Animal Road Crossing—is an interdisciplinary partnership
working to expedite new ways to create wildlife crossing structures. ARC’s
primary goal is “to ensure safe passage for both humans and animals on and
across our roads” (arc-solutions.org). These wildlife crossings or bridges will
extend wildlife corridors and enable a variety of species safe passage across
America’s highways. In other words, “ARC is working toward the (re)design of
our highways so that the need for safe passage is met safely and efficiently
while also maintaining the integrity and connectivity of our ecosystems,
reducing our carbon footprint, minimizing the consumption of non-renewable
materials, recycling resources and extending the life cycle of transportation
infrastructure” (arc-solutions.org).
An interesting fact, one that I was not aware of, is that most of North America’s major highways
generally go east-west while most wildlife movements tend to follow major
landforms and topography which generally run north-south (arc-solutions.org)
therefore increasing the need for wildlife crossings. When the proposed
wildlife crossing structures are designed and built correctly they “act as a
new, visible layer of functioning landscape, weaving over and under our
highways, in and out of the natural landscape” (arc-solutions.org). Given the
range and variety of species throughout North America, each wildlife crossing
needs to cater to the specific needs of the species it is designed to protect. For
example, some species prefer overpasses, while others prefer underpasses.
When building wildlife bridges it’s important to remember
that they are “typically shorter in span but much wider [than vehicle bridges].
They also necessarily include a thick layer of soil and vegetation—a landscaped
surface—that must emulate local habitats” (arc-solutions.org). ARC recommends
an inverted arc shape to the wildlife bridge because it conveys the feeling of
a valley for animals and results in more light for drivers. Another aspect of
the wildlife bridges is education; viewing platforms for the public to actually
observe animals crossing the wildlife bridges at a safe distance will encourage
support among the public. If people can see what the bridge is protecting they
will be more inclined to encourage it. ARC
emphasizes that “wildlife crossings are being designed as living experiments,
complete with data-gathering technologies built into the structure. Wildlife
crossings offer rich potential for learning: infrared cameras installed at
crossing sites capture and record animals in transit; web cams transmit
real-time wildlife movement data to science labs and classrooms alike; and
hand-held applications [such as smartphone apps] bring the data to passengers
in a passing car” (arc-solutions.org).
If we can manage to get large numbers of these wildlife
crossings built, they could reduce animal-vehicle collisions between 80 and 100
percent if designed correctly; with time, ARC believes wildlife crossings can
eliminate the problem and the cost of such collisions entirely
(arc-solutions.org). Good news is, wildlife crossings may be closer than you think. President Obama
just signed a transportation bill on July 6, 2012 that “includes important
provisions that will allow states and federal agencies to retrofit roads and
create wildlife crossing structures that help prevent wildlife from colliding
with the motoring public. The wildlife-vehicle collision provisions address
roads on federal and tribal lands, national parks, and state highways”
(arc-solutions.org/news)
One easy way to help ARC understand where wildlife vehicle
collisions occur most is to go online and share your Road Story here.
Also, to see examples of camera trap photos of animals using the wildlife bridges please visit here.
Also, to see examples of camera trap photos of animals using the wildlife bridges please visit here.
Reference:
“Can a Wildlife
Bridge Fix America’s $8 Billion Roadkill Problem?” Co.Design. Ed. Cliff Kuang. N.p., 02 Dec. 2010. Web. 31 July 2012. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662800/can-a-wildlife-bridge-fix-americas-8-billion-roadkill-problem.
