Wildlife seek safe routes under highways [The Frederick News-Post, Md.]

Nov. 25--In a new twist on an old joke, researchers are asking: Why did the raccoon cross the highway, when it could have used the drainage culvert underneath?

University of Maryland scientists recently completed a study that found a large number of wildlife species not only use these drainage culverts as a safer passageway, but are particular about which designs they prefer.

"The idea ultimately is to design better culverts to minimize animals trying to cross roads and expose themselves to vehicles," said ecologist J. Edward Gates of the Center for Environmental Science, who oversaw the project from the center's Appalachian Laboratory in Frostburg.

"We have these culverts we put in for drainage, and the question was, do they have any function as wildlife passageways?"

Researchers documented 57 species using culverts in a statewide study commissioned by the State Highway Administration. The total cost of the two-year project was about $300,000, which included the purchase of motion-sensored cameras, Gates said.

Some animals are quite particular about what kind of tunnels they use; for example, deer avoid cobbled surfaces. Others, like raccoons, will use just about anything.

More deer crossing through culverts did not correlate to fewer crashes involving deer and vehicles, Gates said.

"Where we had a lot of deer use culverts, we also had a lot more mortality on the roadway," he said. "That's not to say it didn't help in some measure."

In Frederick County, where about 100 collisions involving a car and animal are reported each year to police, these findings could be beneficial.

"When you start reducing the wildlife area, they migrate across more roads," Frederick County Director of Public Works Tom Meunier said. "If you can improve the safety of the animals crossing and certainly the traveling public, you need to look at that."

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that 1.5 million deer versus motor vehicle crashes occur each year across the nation, resulting in at least $1 billion in vehicle damages.

Highway administration officials said they took a look at preliminary findings from this study when designing the recently completed Intercounty Connector.

"We have designed culverts and crossings specifically for wildlife all along the highway," said Rob Shreeve, SHA's environmental manager on the ICC project.

Special fences are also being used to funnel the animals into these culverts, and other alternatives will be reviewed.

"As new highways are built in Maryland, or areas are identified as being what are known as hot spots for where animals cross," Shreeve said, "we are hoping to use the information from the study to look at those areas and see what kinds of parameters they have and see if there are things we can do."

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