United States Department of Transportation
i
Evaluation of Right-of-Way Fence Tags to Reduce Animal-Vehicle Collisions
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2023-05-01
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[PDF-17.82 MB]
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Edition:FINAL (2016–2022)
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Abstract:Animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) pose a serious and growing threat to motorists traveling on ADOT roads. Solutions exist to effectively mitigate AVC, such as wildlife crossing structures (overpasses and underpasses), however these solutions can be costly and untimely. Fence tags, a small reflective tag that is attached to the right-of-way fence and deter animals from crossing the fence, provide a potential cost-effective solution to reduce AVC. The research team evaluated the effectiveness of fence tags designed by Swift Creek, LLC, in reducing AVC. Fence tags were installed along both sides of five 2-mile segments of roadway and maintained for three years by replacing missing or damaged fence tags on a quarterly basis. The research team queried ADOT Crash Data to determine changes in AVC prior to the study (July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2018) and following fence tag installation (July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2021). Collisions in the areas where fence tags were installed were reduced by an average of 25.4 percent across all sites. This reduction was significant; however, the control sites were also reduced by a similar average of 25.8 percent across all study sites. These findings indicate that (1) the effectiveness of fence tags at reducing AVC were not noticeably different than the control, or (2) external factors that were not considered in the study, such as the effect of nearby road construction, may have influenced the effectiveness of the fence tags. To better understand the results of this study and improve available data for future projects and management decisions, the research team recommends: (1) further examining fence tags as a viable mitigation technique by looking at other aspects that could be taken into account in the study, such as other external factors affecting their use; measuring the effective tag size; implementing a longer observation period before, during, and after the intervention, etc. and (2) implementing data collection forms that capture animal type/species.
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