The first wildlife crossing along Colorado's Interstate 70 mountain corridor opened Thursday.

Located on I-70 between the Lookout Mountain and Genesee exits, the underpass has new wildlife fencing and escape ramps that span for two miles along both directions of the interstate. 

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) celebrated the new crossing with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday.

The crossing will allow elk, deer and other animals to move freely from one side of the interstate to the other, reducing crashes in an area that CDOT identified as a hotspot for collisions.

CDOT said the location has the highest number of wildlife-vehicle collisions on I-70 east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel. 

"With this project, we hope to eliminate wildlife vehicle collisions by about 90 percent," said CDOT Spokesperson Stacia Sellers. "So, that’s really going to help that number decrease.”

CPW said the new underpass will provide better movement possibilities for a variety of wildlife like elk, mule deer, black bears, coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats while improving driver safety.

According to CDOT, around 5,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions are reported to law enforcement in Colorado each year, costing about $80 million in car damage, accident response, and medical expenses. 

"It's a big win for wildlife, and a big win for Colorado motorists out there on the road who won't be getting in as many accidents," said CPW Spokesperson Travis Duncan.

Credit: CPW, CDOT

“Wildlife need to move daily and between seasonal ranges to maintain resiliency in response to habitat conditions and changing pressures on the landscape,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis.

“With increasing human populations and traffic volumes in Colorado, we need to continue to develop effective solutions for wildlife to access valuable resources to maintain healthy populations. CDOT and CPW have together created statewide approaches to wildlife-highway mitigation and identified where to focus transportation dollars across Colorado to improve safe passage for motorists and wildlife. I’m thrilled to see another component of a statewide plan come to fruition today.”

I-70 wildlife underpass

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“As development expands the human footprint in Colorado, it’s important for us to continue to support wildlife health and their need for protected migration corridors,” said Michelle Cowardin, Wildlife Movement Coordinator for CPW. “We’re excited to see the species that will utilize the underpass for years to come. This is a win for wildlife and a great step in improving driver safety along I-70.”

“Colorado has one of the nation’s leading programs to protect traveler safety by avoiding dangerous collisions between drivers and wildlife,” said Shoshana Lew, CDOT Executive Director.

“To date, we have built over 100 structures that allow terrestrial wildlife and aquatic movement in the form of pipe culverts, overpasses, concrete box culverts, underpasses and bridges with nearly 450 miles of fencing accompanying them. This program benefits from tremendous collaboration between CDOT and our partners at the Department of Natural Resources, thanks to an executive order from [Colorado] Governor Polis.”

~9News.com

New underpass could decrease collisions with wildlife by 90 percent

The new underpass will provide better movement for elk, mule deer, black bears, coyotes, m...

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