United States Department of Transportation
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Monitoring wildlife-vehicle collisions : analysis and cost-benefit of escape ramps for deer and elk on U.S. highway 550.
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2015-05-01
[PDF-6.52 MB]
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Abstract:Wildlife fencing along highways can lower wildlife-vehicle collision rates by excluding animals from the road right-of-way. Still, animals can
breach fencing and end up trapped within the fencing along the highway right-of-way, exposing wildlife and motorists to the risk of collision.
Wildlife escape ramps are designed to allow trapped animals safe passage out of the right-of-way. Few recommendations exist on effective
design of escape ramps and monitoring data are limited. We investigated the usage levels, escape success, wildlife-vehicle collisions, and
design of 11 escape ramps and two escape jumps along an eight-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 550 near Ridgway, Colorado. Our goals were
to 1) relate usage levels and escape success to ER structure design and its surrounding environmental characteristics, 2) describe the animal
use of ER in the study area, 3) conduct a cost-benefit analysis for escape ramp construction and 4) provide recommendations regarding ER
design and WVC based on data collected.
Implementation
A number of Implementation recommendations are made in the report including: installation of additional ramps at specific locations,
addition of improved mitigation at the ends of wildlife fencing, and specific improvements to select escape structures.
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