![]() ![]() 93 north of Wells in northeastern Nevada to reduce potentially dangerous vehicle-animal collisions. Using a regional approach to improving traffic safety and habitat connectivity, nine crossings have been installed on I-80 between Wendover and Wells and U.S. The Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada Department of Wildlife analyzed which state roadways have the largest percentage of vehicle-animal collisions to identify locations where safety crossings would be most effective in reducing vehicle-animal collision rates. The crossings join with other road safety features, such as centerline rumble strips, installed across Nevada to achieve safer roadways. In Nevada, numerous agencies and partners are working together to install safety crossings in areas shown by research to have high vehicle-animal collision rates. In states where mule deer migrate between winter and summer feeding ranges, the migration intersects major highways. Many of our country’s rural highways have been constructed through deer migratory routes. Our developed areas and travel have increased, bringing people further in contact with deer and other large wild animals. These crossings are becoming increasingly common in the United States and Canada, reducing vehicle-animal collisions and allowing safe crossing of deer and elk in Arizona, mountain goats and grizzly bears in Montana, deer, elk and moose in Wyoming and desert tortoises in California, among other areas. Since the first wildlife crossings were constructed in France in the middle of the last century, European countries have successfully used various crossing structures to reduce the conflict between wildlife and cars. Often, safety crossings for larger animals are installed in conjunction with fencing to help direct animals to cross at the desired location, avoiding potential traffic collisions. Safety crossings are passages above or beneath roadways that are designed to increase road safety and reduce collisions by redirecting wildlife out of the way of oncoming vehicles.įrom underpasses and overpasses to small mammal tunnels and other crossings, all of these structures are designed to provide semi-natural corridors through which animals can safely cross roads without endangering motorists and themselves. ![]() Fish and Wildlife Service and Nevada Department of Wildlife are installing safety crossings. In a continual effort to provide the safest roadways, the Nevada Department of Transportation and partners such as the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. One of those tools, wildlife crossings (a type of safety crossing), has been successful at reducing both vehicle-animal collisions and wildlife impacts caused by roads. The substantial human, economic and wildlife costs caused by vehicle-animal collisions have led scientists and engineers to develop tools to reduce the deadly crashes. These roads increase animal deaths, fragment and decrease habitat, prevent wildlife from accessing natural resources and isolate wildlife populations into smaller and more vulnerable subpopulations. roads impact the natural ecology of at least one-fifth of the country. ![]() It we invest a fraction of that cost into solutions to reduce those collisions, we can save taxpayers money, save lives and reconnect habitat. This includes infrastructure damage, human injuries, loss of both human and animal life, emergency response, traffic control, travel delays and other associated economic costs. In Nevada, we spend an average of 20 million dollars on animal-vehicle collisions each year. Across the nation, traffic crashes involving wildlife cause an estimated $5 to $8 billion in damage each year. Research estimates that more than 50 percent of such collisions can go unreported to authorities, pointing to a potentially higher number of animal-related incidents. Roadside Memorials & Highway Segment DesignationsĮach year in Nevada, vehicle collisions with wild and domestic/feral animals result in more than 500 reported crashes, cost the Nevada public over $19 million in crash costs, and kill an estimated 5,032 wild animals.Traction and Chain Requirement Descriptions.Nevada Traffic Incident Management Coalition.Highways Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) +. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |