Wildlife populations in Douglas County, Colorado, will no longer have to run the gauntlet across the six lanes of Interstate 25 following the completion of a new $15 million overpass.
The Greenland Wildlife Overpass is 200 feet wide and more than 200 feet long, making it North America’s largest such construction.
Paid for by a federal grant plus funds from the state and non-profit organizations, it connects almost 40,000 acres of protected habitat within the Douglas County Land Conservancy on one side to Pike National Forest on the other.
The overpass is designed primarily with elk and pronghorn in mind but will be used by a wide variety of other local species – black bears, badgers, and red tail foxes to name just a few.
Wildlife-friendly fencing has been installed at either end of the bridge to prevent cattle from wandering across while native grasses covers the approaches to encourage critters to cross.
“Wildlife now can kind of go on a little bit of an adventure that they weren’t (able to) before,” said Kara Van Hoose, Public Information Officer at Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The design ensures open lines of sight are retained as many species find this type of crossing easier to navigate than more closed-off solutions like underpasses.
“Unfortunately, wildlife can’t read,” said Van Hoose. “So it’s not like we could put signs up saying, this is safe here, go here.”
The new construction is one of four new wildlife overpasses completed as part of a wider project focusing on improving an 18-mile stretch of the I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) hopes that the investment in fauna-friendly infrastructure, which also includes 28 miles of deer fencing, will reduce animal-vehicle collisions by 90 percent.
