The preponderance of roadkill worldwide proves that mixing roads and wildlife can be deadly.
Anyone who’s paying attention has seen the result on our highway shoulders. I know I have — whether it’s the shattered deer on the side of I-91, the baby bear on the S-curves in Shutesbury that brought me to tears or the many flattened chipmunks I pass on my bicycle along South East Street in Amherst, the carnage is heart-wrenching. And many American drivers have had the unfortunate, terrifying experience of their vehicle colliding with or almost hitting a deer, skunk or other animal.
Nationwide, vehicles kill more than one million vertebrate animals a day on U.S. roads. And there are close to two million collisions with large animals such as deer, elk and bears each year across the country. Massachusetts has thousands of these wildlife-vehicle accidents and they are on the rise. Deer-related accidents in Massachusetts have increased 51% over the last decade with 729 of these crashes happening last November alone.
We know the best solution to this problem: wildlife crossings over or under highways and other major byways.
Simply put, wildlife crossings such as tunnels, bridges and culverts allow wildlife to safely migrate and move. One example hidden from sight: culverts beneath roads not only keep water off roads to prevent flooding, but also facilitate fish mobility. Salamander tunnels and fencing, like those near the Cushman neighborhood of Amherst, can make a big difference for those species. More visibly, bridges over highways provide opportunities for everything from moose to mountain lions to avoid getting struck by a vehicle.
Wildlife crossings can reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by more than 90%. They help people, too. According to State Farm Insurance, 1 in every 117 insurance claims in the state involve a wild animal. Given that each deer collision costs drivers between $7,000-$19,000, in a state like ours, where we experienced 3,559 deer collisions in 2024, wildlife vehicle collisions have significant financial, as well as public health and environmental, impacts.
Given the effectiveness of wildlife crossings, it’s clear that we need to build more. But the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, the first federal program approved specifically for developing these safe passages, will disappear come the end of September unless Congress renews the program and approves more funding.
The program has been effective to date. State and local governments have competed for grants to fund local projects designed to avoid collisions and reconnect habitat. For example, thanks to this fund the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will receive $1.7 million to fund pre-construction design and permitting for a wildlife crossing project in Becket — along the Appalachian Trail over Interstate 90 through western Massachusetts — in an area with a high number of vehicle collisions with deer. The project, once complete, will offer separate and distinct areas for wildlife, pedestrians and hikers and will include fencing to help funnel wildlife to the crossing. Projects like this not only save a wide variety of species from vehicle strikes — they’re also helping reconnect these animals’ natural habitats.
Roads create barriers that restrict wildlife movement, reducing the ability of wildlife to hunt, forage and find mates. Here in Massachusetts, species from red foxes and bobcats to turtles, salamanders, and porcupines would benefit from more crossings.
Our state leaders recognize the role that crossings can play. Gov. Maura Healey’s Biodiversity Goals for Massachusetts specifically mentions “protecting key wildlife migration corridors and building wildlife-friendly road crossings” as a goal. Additional federal funding will help accomplish this goal.
Wildlife crossings will save money, lives and wildlife and legislators across the political spectrum understand this. This is why bipartisanly supported bills in both the U.S. House and Senate would permanently authorize the Wildlife Crossing Program and provide funding for five additional years. Now we need to make sure our federal legislators follow through.
Getting anything passed in today’s Congress is no easy task. But this should be a no-brainer. We encourage everyone in Massachusetts from the governor to the average citizen, to let your senators and or representatives know that you support crossings because this commonsense solution to help wildlife thrive and survive will also make our roads safer for us. It’s a win-win for wildlife and drivers.
Johanna Neumann of Amherst has spent the past two decades working to protect our air, water and open spaces, defend consumers in the marketplace and advance a more sustainable economy and democratic society. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.