Investments will help reduce wildlife vehicle collisions that result in thousands of serious injuries, hundreds of fatalities, and more than $10 billion in medical costs and property damage each year.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced $125 million in grants for 16 wildlife crossing projects in 16 states, including one Native American Tribe. The funding is available through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, a new grant program in its second round of awards that was created by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The purpose of the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program is to improve safety for motorists and wildlife by reducing vehicle collisions with wildlife while also improving habitat connectivity and supporting the survival of threatened or endangered species. The funding supports studies and projects that construct wildlife crossings over and below busy roads, add fencing to direct animals to the crossings, and monitor performance of crossing systems. Overall, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes a total of $350 million available over five years through FY 2026 under the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.
Each year, more than one million wildlife vehicle collisions are estimated to impact motorists and wildlife in the U.S. Wildlife-vehicle collisions involving large animals result in approximately 200 human fatalities and 26,000 injuries to drivers and their passengers each year. These collisions also cost the public more than $10 billion annually. This includes economic costs, such as loss of income, medical costs, property damage, and more. Highways can threaten wildlife populations by fragmenting habitats, creating barriers to safe movement, and causing wildlife vehicle collisions.
“Too many Americans are injured or killed each year in crashes involving cars and wildlife, especially in rural areas-which is why our Department created the first-ever program dedicated to crossings that make roads and highways safer for both humans and wildlife,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “With funding made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the projects moving forward in 16 states will reduce collisions between drivers and wildlife, create places for wildlife to safely move over and under highways, and help preserve American life and property.”
“Safety is FHWA’s top priority, and these roadway safety investments will ensure that motorists and wildlife get to their destinations safely while advancing a safe, efficient transportation system that benefits all road users as well as the environment,” said Acting Federal Highway Deputy Administrator Gloria M. Shepherd.
Project selections in this round of grant awards include:
- The Oregon Department of Transportation will receive $33.2 million to build a wildlife crossing along Interstate 5 within southwest Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The project includes construction of a wildlife overpass bridge and fencing to direct wildlife to the structure within the Mariposa Preserve. Species impacted in this area include deer, bears, elk, cougars, and other large-bodied animals attempting to cross the highway.The North Carolina Department of Transportation will receive $25 million to install multiple wildlife underpass structures and fencing along US-64 within the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County. The project will reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, support the Red Wolf Recovery Program, and increase habitat connectivity for wildlife within the refuge, including the endangered red wolf, black bear, and white-tailed deer.
- The Idaho Department of Transportation will receive nearly $21 million to construct three wildlife underpasses with eight-foot-tall fencing along six miles of US-30 at Rocky Point in rural Bear Lake County. The project will reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions along a mule deer migration route and support habitat connectivity.
- The Nevada Department of Transportation will receive $16.8 million to build 61 wildlife crossings along US-93 and install 68 miles of barrier fencing aimed at reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions while connecting critical habitat for the federally-threatened Mojave desert tortoise. The 34-mile segment is the last remaining unfenced section dividing critical tortoise habitat in the state without protected crossings.
- The Maine Department of Transportation will receive $9.3 million to construct a wildlife crossing using a pre-cast concrete arch culvert to provide passage for moose, deer, and other large wildlife in the city of Caribou. The project will improve safety by reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions in the area, removing two existing barriers for wildlife and fish passage, and improving habitat connectivity for terrestrial and aquatic species.
- The Florida Department of Transportation will receive $6.1 million to reconstruct a 0.38-mile stretch of US-27 in southern Highlands County near the community of Venus. The project includes raising the roadway, building a wildlife crossing underpass using a new box culvert, and adding two miles of fencing to guide animals to the crossing to help prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. The project will reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions with the endangered Florida panther, white-tailed deer, black bear, American alligator, and other small terrestrial and aquatic species.
In its first round of grant awards last year, the Federal Highway Administration awarded $110 million for 19 wildlife crossing projects in 17 states. The agency released a second Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program in June 2024 and received 61 applications requesting more than $585 million from 28 states including, 26 State Departments of Transportation, 15 local public agencies, two Federal Land Management agencies, and one Native American Tribe. The number of applications and the requested funding amounts continue to indicate strong interest in the Wildlife Crossings grant program across the nation.
The Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program supports the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS), which sets a goal of achieving zero roadway deaths and serious injuries through a Safe System Approach to prevent crashes from happening in the first place. Projects funded by this program reduce wildlife crashes, which will help lower the associated economic impact (such as loss of income, medical costs, property damage, and decline in productivity and quality of life) while simultaneously improving habitat connectivity to sustain the environment and improve the overall safety of the traveling public.
The full list of project selections can be found at Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program FY 2024-2025 Selections | FHWA.