editor – Page 26 – Environmental Technical Assistance Program Newsletter

FHWA Launches Seventh ‘Every Day Counts’ Initiative

The Federal Highway Administration recently kicked off the latest round of transportation innovations through its Every Day Counts or EDC program.

[Above image by FHWA]

The agency noted that EDC is a successful state-based program that helps identify and rapidly deploy proven, yet underused, innovations that facilitate greater efficiency in project delivery at the state, local and tribal levels – saving time, money, and other resources to ensure transportation infrastructure is built better, faster, smarter, and more equitably. It began soliciting ideas for the seventh round of this program, known as EDC-7, back in March.

The FHWA and the Federal Transit Administration are promoting this year’s innovations to help improve project delivery across highway, rail, and transit agencies at the state and local level.

“For over 10 years the Every Day Counts program has rapidly deployed proven technologies and processes that can be implemented at the national scale,” said Acting FHWA Administration Stephanie Pollack in a statement.

She added that this year’s EDC-7 innovations would improve safety for all road users, build a sustainable infrastructure for the future and grow an inclusive workforce.

Notably, FHWA and FTA selected several EDC-7 innovations with multimodal state transportation agencies in mind that should interest transit and rail agencies, too.

“Many of the innovations announced today as part of this forward-thinking program will help make the nation’s transit systems safer, greener, and more equitable,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “We look forward to promoting the findings from these initiatives — from reducing greenhouse gas emissions to leveling the playing field for small businesses to compete for design-build contracts — throughout the transit industry.”

This year’s EDC-7 innovations include:

Nighttime Visibility for Safety: The nighttime crash fatality rate is three times the daytime rate. Enhancing visibility along corridors, intersections, and pedestrian crossings can help reduce fatalities. This initiative promotes traffic control devices and properly designed lighting to improve safety for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and people who use public transportation and passenger rail services.
Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management: Over six million crashes a year in the U.S. put responders and other vulnerable road users at risk. Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management programs promote emerging technologies such as emergency vehicle lighting and queue warning solutions. These and other tools can advance safety and operations to help keep crash responders safe and mitigate traffic impacts after a crash.
Integrating Greenhouse Gas Assessment and Reduction Targets in Transportation Planning: Transportation is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the U.S. This initiative provides resources to help agencies, regardless of transportation mode, quantify greenhouse gases, and set goals to decrease motor vehicle, construction, and lifecycle emissions through planning and project development.
Enhancing Performance with Internally Cured Concrete or EPIC: Cracking in concrete is a limiting factor in achieving long-term concrete performance. Such internal curing can mitigate shrinkage, and cracking, and extend the service life of concrete bridge decks, as well.
Environmental Product Declarations or EPDs for Sustainable Project Delivery: Construction materials such as concrete and asphalt have environmental impacts during their life cycle, whether the transportation facility supports passenger vehicles, transit vehicles, or railroad cars. EPDs document those impacts. This tool helps states support procurement decisions and quantify embodied carbon reductions for “sustainable pavements” via lifecycle assessments.
Rethinking Disadvantaged Business Enterprises or DBEs in Design-Build: Many design-build contracts do not adequately provide opportunities for disadvantaged businesses. New practices are available to support the effective integration of program requirements to help DBEs compete for design-build contracts for highway and transit projects.
Strategic Workforce Development or SWD: The demand for highway workers is growing due to the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA, and emerging technologies require new skills. Thirty-two states are using SWD protocols to promote career opportunities in transportation, with six of those states having institutionalized SWD processes in their workforce programs. A continued focus on taking this nationwide will help stakeholders across the country improve their ability to identify, train, and place highway construction workers, FHWA said, with the focus on SWD expanding to rural and tribal communities to increase career opportunities.

Every two years since 2011, FHWA has worked with state departments of transportation, local governments, tribes, private industry, and other stakeholders to identify a new set of innovations to champion that merit accelerated deployment. The first six rounds of EDC have yielded several innovative project delivery technologies, including prefabricated bridge systems, design-build contracting, project bundling, e-construction, safety initiatives, and more.

FHWA credited the program’s success largely on its close collaboration with states and local partners through a process whereby states select innovations they want to pursue, then establish performance goals for the level of implementation and adoption they want to reach over the upcoming two-year cycle. After finalizing the selection and performance goals, implementation of those innovations begins with the support and assistance of diverse technical deployment teams established for each innovation, including federal, state, and local experts.

In addition, FHWA noted that the Accelerated Innovation Demonstration program and State Transportation Innovation Council Incentive program administered by the agency could complement EDC by providing additional funding and resources to help the surface transportation community accelerate the adoption and standardization of innovative technologies in their programs.

Utah Introduces ‘Roadkill Reporter’ App for Motorists

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (Utah DWR) and Utah Department of Transportation recently introduced a free mobile phone application called “The Roadkill Reporter” to make it easier for motorists to report the location and description of any dead animals on or near roads for removal.

[Above photo by Utah DWR]

Available through both the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store, the new Roadkill Reporter app – developed over the last two years with funding from both state agencies – serves another purpose, as well: Pinpointing where the agencies need to build wildlife crossings on state highways.

“It is important for us to understand how many wildlife-vehicle collisions occur in Utah,” explained Utah DWR Migration Initiative Coordinator Blair Stringham in a statement. “This new app will allow us to know exactly when and where collisions occur, which will help us identify hot spot areas on Utah highways. We can then work with Utah DOT and other partners to install underpasses, fencing, wildlife overpasses, and other structures to reduce collisions in those areas and keep wildlife and people safe.”

Along with providing information about potential areas for wildlife crossings, the data collected through the app will also benefit the Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative and its efforts to learn more about the annual migration patterns of different animal species in Utah.

The Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative is a program that tracks and studies the migration patterns of different wildlife and fish species in the state. Most of the data comes from animals wearing GPS tracking devices or from fish tagged with implanted transmitters. The tracking data benefits wildlife because biologists can identify where the animals spend large portions of time and then make habitat improvements in those areas.

“For years, wildlife carcass data has been a key factor in Utah DOT and Utah DWR’s decision-making process to make Utah roads safer and improve wildlife population health,” noted Utah DOT Natural Resource Manager Matt Howard. “The new app will make it easier for the public to use and will give us more and better information to guide future mitigation efforts.”

The most reported wildlife-vehicle collisions in Utah are with deer and elk. So far, in 2022, there have been 4,900 reported collisions with deer, 166 reported collisions with elk, and 20 reported collisions with moose. However, the actual number of collisions is likely twice as high, because many incidents just go unreported, Utah DWR noted.

Many state departments of transportation have beefed up efforts to address wildlife crossing needs on state roads in recent years.

For example, in August, the Colorado Department of Transportation recently completed the state’s newest wildlife overpass and underpass on U.S. Highway 160 in the southwestern part of the state, celebrating the accomplishment with a ribbon-cutting event.

To date, Colorado DOT said it has built more than 60 wildlife mitigation structures crossing above or under highways throughout the state. Additionally, it has installed 400 miles of high big game fencing along state and U.S. highways or next to the interstates.

Meanwhile, a research document recently released by an international pool-funded study led by the Nevada Department of Transportation provides an “authoritative review” of the most effective measures to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, improve motorist safety, and build safer wildlife crossings.

With as many as two million collisions with large mammals in the United States leading to approximately 200 human deaths every year, the review compiled, evaluated, and synthesized studies, scientific reports, journal articles, technical papers, and other publications from within the United States and beyond to determine the effectiveness of 30 different mitigation measures.

Ultimately, the report provides best management practices to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, increase habitat connectivity, and implement cost-effective solutions.

Environmental News Highlights – December 7, 2022

ETAP Podcast: AASHTO President Roger Millar

At its 2022 Annual Meeting, held in October in Orlando, the Board of Directors of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials elected Roger Millar (seen above) as its 2022-2023 president.

[Above photo by WSDOT]

Appointed secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation in August 2016, Millar – a 1982 graduate of the University of Virginia – is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

He also serves as president of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Transportation and Development Institute, is chair of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s board of directors, and is a member of the National Complete Streets Coalition Steering Committee.

An experienced land-use and transportation engineer, planner, and program manager – with an international reputation for innovative approaches to conservation and development – Millar’s key emphasis area during his one-year term as AASHTO president is transportation system resilience.

That includes preparing for and adapting transportation infrastructure to changing conditions and climate-related disruptions like wildfires, flooding, excessive heat, sea-level rise, and extreme storm events.

In this ETAP podcast episode, Millar will discuss how his decades-long transportation industry experience led him to make resilience his key focus area as AASHTO 2022-2023 president. Click here to listen.

TxDOT Issues $250M in Transportation Alternatives Funding

In an effort to curb rising pedestrian and bicyclist fatality numbers, as well as foster less carbon-intensive forms of mobility, the Texas Department of Transportation is making roughly $250 million available via its 2023 Transportation Alternatives Call for Projects.

[Above photo by TxDOT]

That program channels federal funds towards sidewalks, bike lanes, shared-use paths, and other projects designed to enhance walking and biking transportation options statewide. TxDOT added that it plans to hold a series of virtual workshops to help municipalities and organizations apply for this funding.

“Making it safer and easier to walk and bike is an important part of our mission of ‘Connecting You with Texas,’” explained TxDOT Transportation Commissioner Robert ‘Robie’ Vaughn in a statement.

“I’m thrilled to see this increase in funding that’ll help communities build impactful improvements for its citizens,” he added. “As a jogger and cyclist myself, I know the value these enhancements can bring to help Texans get to work, run errands, and enjoy the beautiful Texas outdoors.”

The number of pedestrians and cyclists killed on Texas roads has been rising over the past several years with pedestrian fatalities increasing by 15 percent and cyclist fatalities by 14 percent in 2021. TxDOT hopes this program’s funding will help communities plan and build walking and biking infrastructure that could help reduce those incidents.

This funding commitment follows a similar effort by TxDOT focused on the transit sector. In July, the Texas Transportation Commission awarded more than $68 million in federal and state funds to transit providers across the state. Combined with an award received in June, TxDOT is distributing more than $146 million in funding – a 65 percent increase compared to funds approved in the summer of 2021.

Environmental News Highlights – November 30, 2022

FEDERAL ACTION

AASHTO Offers Feedback on Vulnerable Road Users – AASHTO Journal

White House releases environmental justice screening tool – E&E News

Three Midwestern States to Watch as They Navigate Equitable Rollout for EV Charging – Inside Climate News

How to design clean energy subsidies that work – without wasting money on free riders – The Conversation

Manchin’s permitting deal is a major setback for environmental justice – The Hill (Opinion)

COVID-19

Washington Ferries won’t rehire unvaxxed workers amid crew shortages – The Center Square

Cities became more pedestrian-friendly during the pandemic. Many aren’t going back – NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

How Buffalo Survives Supercharged Snow – CityLab

States Test an Electrifying Idea: Roads That Can Recharge Your EV – Pew

Tackling Supply Chain Challenges and Climate Change – St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

Hurricanes knock out traffic lights. Could a Tampa solar sidewalk change that? – Tampa Bay Times

Four Considerations for Building Out Electric Vehicle Charging Stations – Route Fifty (Commentary)

AIR QUALITY

Decarbonization of US aviation sector ‘within reach’: study – The Hill

Across New York, a Fleet of Google Street View Vehicles Tracks an Array of Key Pollutants – Inside Climate News

From EV school buses to tractors, US seeks zero-emission heavy-duty transport by 2040 – Electrek

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

In a Rural Corner of the West, a Local Level Push to Revive Passenger Rail – Route Fifty

Researchers Create Toolkit to Address Disparities in Transportation and Mobility – Insight Into Diversity

Buttigieg gets an earful about tribal roads during his stop in N.M – Source NM

Disabilities organizations, individuals sue DC over new bike lane designs – WTOP Radio

Bike advocates sue Portland, Oregon for failing ‘to meet its most basic legal obligations to provide safe streets’ – Cycling Weekly

NATURAL RESOURCES

llinois DOT: Changing Mowing Practices to Protect Landscapes – AASHTO Journal

Arizona DOT Highlights Benefit of Elk Fencing Project – AASHTO Journal

U.S. Department of Transportation Providing the U.S. Forest Service $5.2 Million in ‘Quick Release’ Emergency Relief Funding to Repair Hurricane Fiona Damage in Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest – FHWA (media release)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Wisconsin Governor, Joins Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, WisDOT to unveil dual-language highway signs – Wisconsin Governor’s Office (media release)

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Invests $300,000 in Community-Led Projects to Boost Safety, Connection and Inclusion on America’s Trails – Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (media release)

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Where ‘Vision Zero’ Is Working – CityLab

Traffic congestion may contribute to lower birthweight – Boston University School of Public Health

Passengers with Disabilities: Barriers to Accessible Air Travel Remain – GAO

Urban planners and the regulation of sound in our cities – Quiet Communities (blog)

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop – TRB

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

FY 2023 Competitive Funding Opportunity: Transit Standards Development – FTA (Notice)

Outer Continental Shelf Air Regulations; Consistency Update for Massachusetts – EPA (Final rule)

Control of Air Pollution From Aircraft Engines: Emission Standards and Test Procedures – EPA (Final rule)

Great Lakes Advisory Board Notice for Virtual Meeting – EPA (Notice)

Proposed Consent Decree, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit – EPA (Notice, request for public comment)

Official Release of EMFAC2021 Motor Vehicle Emission Factor Model for Use in the State of California – EPA (Notice of availability)

John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System; Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin; Draft 5-Year Review Boundaries – Fish and Wildlife Service (Notice of availability; request for comments)

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Meeting – Fish and Wildlife Service (Notice)

Natural Disaster Procedures: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Activities of the Corps of Engineers – Army Corps of Engineers (Proposed rule)

Notice of Consideration of Demand Response and Electric Vehicle Standards – Tennessee Valley Authority (Notice with request for comments)

Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program; Northeast Corridor Project Inventory – FRA (Notice of availability)

Notice of the December 7 and 8, 2022, Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names – National Park Service (Notice)

Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Empire Offshore Wind, LLC’s Proposed Wind Energy Facility Offshore New York – Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Notice; request for comments

Jefferson National Forest; Monroe County, West Virginia; Giles and Montgomery County, Virginia. Mountain Valley Pipeline and Equitrans Expansion Project Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement – Forest Service (Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement)

Establishment of the Marine and Coastal Area-Based Management Advisory Committee and Solicitation of Nominations for Membership – NOAA (Notice)

National Boating Safety Advisory Committee; Vacancies – Coast Guard (Request for applications)

Utah DOT Preps Howitzers for Avalanche Control

Crews with the Utah Department of Transportation recently test-fired howitzers used to create controlled avalanches on state routes in the Big and Little Cottonwood canyons; part of the agency’s plan to ensure motorist safety on roads potentially threatened by avalanches, while also protecting said roads from avalanche damage.

[Above photo by the Utah DOT]

“Our goal is to make sure people can travel safely in our canyons throughout the winter,” said Steven Clark, Utah DOT avalanche program manager, in a statement. “We’re always working to keep these vital highways open as much as possible.”

[Editor’s note: A panel discussion held at the 2019 TransComm meeting in Indianapolis stressed that more public outreach on the part of state departments of transportation regarding snow and ice removal operational needs is critical to creating a safer and more efficient highway system during the winter season.]

During the test-firing process, he said crews verify predetermined targets in known avalanche areas. This ensures the agency can fire the howitzers in inclement weather when targets are not visible – using target information confirmed during the test-firing process.

In addition to howitzers, Utah DOT avalanche control methods include explosives placed by hand or dropped by helicopter and ‘Avalaunchers,’ which use compressed gas to launch a small explosive. Agency crews also use remote avalanche control systems or RACS, which are small towers installed on known avalanche paths that use fuel/air mixtures to create small, pinpoint explosions when remotely activated by Utah DOT crews.

Those various tools provide several options for controlling avalanches on the approximately 70 avalanche paths in Little Cottonwood Canyon that cross SR-210, as well as other highways with avalanche risk such as SR-190 in Big Cottonwood and US-189 in Provo Canyon.

“Utah DOT is one of the leaders in transportation avalanche mitigation,” Clark said. “We utilize the newest technologies and are always looking to incorporate new techniques and equipment to ensure safety for all canyon travelers.”

Several state DOTs with mountain roads in their care tap into various avalanche control methods similar to those used by Utah DOT and different techniques.

For example, the Washington State Department of Transportation uses several “passive” control methods to manage snow slides. These include elevated roadways so avalanches pass under them and catchment basins to stop the avalanche before snow reaches the highway. WSDOT also uses use diversion dams and snow berms to keep the snow off the highway, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation coordinates with its sister agency, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center or CAIC, to regularly monitor and control 278 of 522 known avalanche paths located above highways across the state. Their joint weather forecasting effort helps prevent avalanches from affecting drivers and passengers on the roads within those avalanche zones.

How Arizona DOT Reuses Materials

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently outlined how it reuses a variety of highway construction materials – such as asphalt, concrete, and steel – to reduce overall transportation project costs and preserve the environment.

[Above photo by the Arizona DOT]

“We reuse as much as we can so nothing goes to waste,” explained Kole Dea, senior resident engineer with the Arizona DOT, in a blog post. “If something can’t go back into the project, then it’s recycled.”

Dea used the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project to highlight how the agency reuses and recycles highway construction materials – both as part of the same project as well as externally on different projects.

For example, when construction began on the I-10 Broadway Curve project in summer 2021, crews removed the rubberized asphalt from the surfaces of I-10 and US 60 in the project area. That work created 1.3 million square yards of asphalt millings, which then formed the base layer for temporary haul roads in the project area. Millings provide a strong base for trucks and equipment to drive on, and they reduce dust – another plus for the environment. Furthermore, the agency mixed those millings with dirt to build embankments to provide additional support to those temporary roadways. Outside of the project area, Arizona DOT said it uses millings on maintenance roads in unpaved areas.

As the agency removes walls and other concrete structures to make way for new construction, they are broken up to serve a new purpose. Arizona DOT said its crews use equipment to break each piece into sizes no larger than 24 inches. Those pieces then become fill material for building up approaches for new bridges. They also fill in holes or otherwise supplement unstable materials in the project area.

The agency also removes steel rebar and other metal materials and takes them to a recycling facility – pointing out that recycled steel is as strong and durable as new steel made from iron ore.

Arizona DOT stressed that it works in compliance with state and federal regulations to ensure all reused materials do not threaten the environment. For example, the agency tests the paint stripes on milled asphalt to ensure it does not contain lead, and that old pipes or bridge structures are free from asbestos.

Several state departments of transportation have reused materials left over from highway and other transportation infrastructure projects for a variety of purposes – especially environmentally focused ones.

For example, in 2021, the Maryland Department of Transportation began oversight of contracts with two Maryland companies to make bricks, pavers, concrete highway barriers, and shoreline supports – among other structures – from dredged material cleared from a shipping channel within the Port of Baltimore.

In addition, in early 2022, the North Carolina Department of Transportation provided more than 1,000 tons of damaged concrete pipe to help the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries shore up two artificial reefs.

Illinois DOT: Using Mowing to Protect Landscapes

The Illinois Department of Transportation recounted in a recent blog post how it changed its mowing practices over the years to better protect roadside landscapes that are vital to pollinators and native planet life.

[Above photo by the Illinois DOT]

The agency has adopted mowing policies to protect the habitat and migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators that use it as a food source. That policy allows for mowing of the state’s roads in a four-year rotation during the summer. Interstate medians are mowed one year, westbound and southbound interstate right-of-ways are mowed the second year, eastbound and northbound interstate right-of-ways are mowed the third year, and non-interstate routes like Illinois 54 are mowed the fourth year. Then the cycle starts over.

However, Andy Stahr, Jay Keigher, and Kip Rutledge – who work for Illinois DOT’s District 3 – enhanced that program by further limiting roadside mowing along Illinois 54, which runs along a railroad right-of-way in Ford County. That encouraged the spread of native prairie plants onto Illinois DOT’s roadsides.

“We didn’t sow native seeds here,” explained Keigher, a maintenance field engineer for yards at Illinois DOT. “These plants spread from the existing remnant prairie on the railroad property. This wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our new mowing policy. We would’ve mowed 30 feet wide through here and we used to do that. Since we stopped doing that, I’ve seen more and more plants like these moving up our slopes and onto our backslopes.”

However – great as it is to have the railroad’s prairie spread onto Illinois DOT’s land, noted Stahr, a roadside management specialist for the agency – that doesn’t mean the job is done. While it means keeping roadside mowing to a minimum, it still means doing work to maintain what’s now considered a developing prairie.

“It’s going to be a constant problem because you have weeds coming in every direction,” Stahr added. “You’re always going to have spots where Canada thistle pops up. That’s why you can’t completely step away from it. Every once in a while you’re going to see a patch of something and you’re going to have to go in and herbicide it out and you got to reseed that little patch.”

Keigher emphasized that a lack of maintenance threatens this effort. For example, invasive Russian olive trees will block the sun and kill existing plants if left unchecked. That tree also can attract birds that transport invasive seeds through their excrement and re-contaminate the prairie with non-native and invasive plants.

Thus such invasive plants and trees must be mowed down to the ground and destroyed. “You can’t just quit,” Keigher said. “You have to keep maintaining that.”

The goal is to re-develop a prairie ecosystem that is self-sustaining – a three to five year process, Stahr noted.

“Reconstruction means applying herbicide to kill all existing vegetation at the site and scarifying the soil. Then it is managing the land for up to two years by mowing,” he explained.

“Seed also are drilled into the ground to establish a deep root system. Once it’s seeded, we really don’t have to do anything else to make it grow other than keep the vegetation and weeds down for that first year,” Stahr pointed out. “You may be able to let it go the second year if you get a great response. It’s usually the third year that you can let it go and you’ll see everything start to bloom.”

Done right, the prairie polices itself against invasive plants, he said.

“There’s only so much space in the root system,” Stahr noted. “Once you get all these plants living together in such density like this, they interlock their root systems so aggressively that when a weed seed lands in here, there’s nowhere to germinate and grow. That’s why they’re so low maintenance when you get them established.”

While Keigher would love to see every roadside receive this treatment, he prefers to do smaller quarter-mile prairie sections at a time.

“We’re expanding at the rate where we can maintain it,” he pointed out. “We just can’t do it all because we don’t have enough time to take care of it. It’s a lot. We wanted to make sure we’re successful at it before we bite more than we can chew.”

Arizona DOT Highlights Elk Fencing Project

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently highlighted the benefits of its collaboration with the Arizona Game & Fish Department (AZGFD) to reduce elk-vehicle crashes on northbound I-17 south of Flagstaff in a blog post.

[Above photo by Arizona DOT]

In 2011, AZGFD noted a high number of elk-vehicle crashes occurred along a stretch of I-17 near Munds Park. Because a full-grown bull elk can weigh upwards of 700 pounds, crashing into something that large can destroy a vehicle and cause serious injury or death to vehicle occupants, as well as the animal.

In 2012, after a series of studies, AZGFD and the Arizona DOT installed ungulate – “ungulate” means “hoofed mammal” – fencing in four locations near Munds Park on I-17. In most instances, Arizona DOT works crews modified existing right-of-way fences with bolts and barbed wire, eliminating the need for completely new fencing and poles.

This project produced almost immediate results, both agencies said. From the 20 documented elk-vehicle crashes that occurred along this strip of I-17 from 2007 to 2010, only one occurred between 2010 and 2014.

Arizona DOT said this is but one example of the state mitigating wildlife issues through partnerships among multiple agencies. The agency noted it also collaborated with AZGFD to construct wildlife underpasses and elk crossings along State Route 260 east of Payson and desert bighorn sheep overpasses near historic Hoover Dam on US 93.

The wildlife protection efforts undertaken by Arizona DOT are reflective of similar initiatives spearheaded by state departments of transportation nationwide.

For example, in July and August every year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation temporarily lowers speed limits from 55 mph to 20 mph on the William B. Umstead Bridge – locally known as the old Manns Harbor Bridge – at dusk and dawn during the roosting period of purple martin bird flocks.

NCDOT noted in a statement that it has collaborated with the Coastal Carolina Purple Martin Society since 2007 to educate the public about the purple martin flocks, to protect both the birds and motorists.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation recently completed the state’s newest wildlife overpass and underpass on U.S. Highway 160 in the southwestern part of the state, celebrating the accomplishment with a ribbon-cutting event.

On the research front, a report released by an international pool funded study led by the Nevada Department of Transportation in July provides an “authoritative review” of the most effective measures to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, improve motorist safety, and build safer wildlife crossings.

Ultimately, the report provides best management practices to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, increase habitat connectivity, and implement cost-effective solutions, Nevada DOT said.