
Have you seen a wildlife crossing photo shared online, often from Europe? These photos depict wildlife bridges over highways, often with animals safely moving overhead while cars flow underneath. Now, wildlife and cars are separated in the US in several places. One such place is along an 11 mile stretch of road in Colorado.
Colorado Highway 9 separated motorists from wildlife by building a series of bridges and underpasses, setting up strategic fencing, and in the past two years managed to reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions 90% along that stretch of road.
Check it out for yourself with the links below, which include video and wildlife photos:
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife webpage for the The Colorado Highway 9 Wildlife Crossing Project — cpw.state.co.us/hwy9 (includes video and map)
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife Facebook page — www.facebook.com/ColoradoParksandWildlife
- Colorado Department of Transportation page on the CO 9 Colorado River South Wildlife & Safety Improvements — www.codot.gov/projects/sh9wildlife
- Blue Valley Ranch, Kremmling, Colorado — bluevalleyranch.com
- 2011 news article on the Blue Valley Ranch funding highway improvements — www.summitdaily.com/news/blue-valley-ranch-owner-donates-800k-to-make-highway-9-safer
Or, take a ride along Highway 9 from Kremmling, Colorado to the Green Mountain Reservoir — located 2-3 hours west of Boulder, northwest of Denver.