Wildlife Crossing Is Needed and Do-able

In a recent competition, an architectural firm was awarded $40,000 for its design of a wildlife crossing. You can read about the competition and award in a NY Times story and also in this NY Times blog post.

The need for such a competition is summarized this way:

"An emerging critical priority for both transportation and natural resource agencies is to make North American highways safer for both drivers and wildlife. The fact that wildlife-vehicle collisions have doubled in the past fifteen years has concentrated transportation agencies’ attention on engineering solutions that prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions on the continent’s roadways. At the same time, roads have been acknowledged as a major obstacle to landscape connectivity and ecological vitality—a matter of growing concern as climate change, in the form of rising temperatures and hydrological shifts, portends increasing wildlife migrations. In this context, the continents’ road systems pose a significant threat to the long-term health and viability of North American wildlife populations."

International wildlife crossing infrastructure design competition video

Yes, the location chosen for the purpose of the competition is in Colorado not El Paso. Yes, their are big differences in terrain and ecology. However, keep in mind that the purpose of the competition was to address the need for wildlife crossings on all North American roadways. Obviously a crossing for Transmountain would require a different design. The point is that it can be done while protecting motorists, providing efficient roadways, protecting wildlife and preserving the environment and ecosystem.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife have raised several concerns about TxDOT's proposed Transmountain project. Among these are the lack of a wildlife corridor and a safe entrance to the Tom Mays Unit of the State Park. It has been estimated that $8,000,000 will be saved to take out Plexxar and bend Paseo delNorte to the contemplated site of the Plexxar interchange. With $8,000,000 one might think that a solution can be had with both concerns especially since the competition proves that well-engineered wildlife corridors can be integrated into the environment. The problem with TxDOT seems to be that they have a cookie-cutter mentality - one template to fit all situations. They also seem to have a problem with listening to the public before design and with creating acceptable alternatives.

A hat tip to Marshall Carter-Tripp for the story about the wildlife crossing competition - Thanks, Marshall!