To mitigate vehicle-wildlife accidents, the Colorado Department of Transportation is installing wildlife underpasses and bringing back speed zones in La Plata County, which leads the state in wildlife-vehicle collisions.
A study calls for installing 24 large-mammal crossings along the U.S. Highway 160 corridor between Durango and Bayfield. The first of those is already under construction at Dry Creek, at a cost of $6.5 million. Small-mammal crossings are also recommended every 1,000 feet. The study also calls for turning the two-lane road into a four-lane divided highway.
At the end of 2014, CDOT announced the ending of “wildlife zones” after inconsistent crash data deemed the enforcement zones, established to thwart vehicular accidents with wildlife, ineffective. Under state mandate, speed limits were lowered and traffic fines doubled from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. in areas known to have above-average numbers of accidents involving wildlife.
In La Plata County, there were two such zones: on U.S. Highway 550 north of Durango between mileposts 26 and 35, and just east of the La Plata/Archuleta county line between mileposts 113 and 121 on U.S. Highway 160, about 10 miles east of Bayfield. Last year, those signs were turned to face away from drivers, but they were turned back at the beginning of October. Because data was inconclusive at these particular sites, the state wanted to continue the project, CDOT spokeswoman Nancy Shanks said.
“Those were the areas where we did see a decrease in animal-vehicle collisions, even though the data is still somewhat inconclusive,” she said. “For example, incidents may have decreased at night but also could have gone down during the day.”
CDOT will also continue collecting data along Highway 160 where a detector designed to blink when wildlife is near was installed in 2008. Despite skewed data from trucks and people crossing over the underground cables, which erroneously triggering the lights, Shanks said the system will carry on because wildlife-vehicle collisions still saw a decrease in this zone.
Roadkill season
As November approaches, drivers come upon peak season for collisions with wild animals, which amounts to more roadkill. CDOT is responsible for clearing roadkill from state and federal highways and consistently reports an uptick in wildlife-related crashes each November. For the entire year, there are typically between 3,000 and 4,000 wildlife-related accidents across the state.
In La Plata County, there were a total of 252 accidents involving wildlife in 2013. Of them, 229 caused property damage only, and 23 involved injuries.
In 2012, there were a total of 261 wildlife accidents, with 231 of them causing just property damage and 30 resulting in injury. The last time a wildlife collision resulted in a fatality was in 2008. There was one reported.
CDOT’s roadkill disposal protocol varies by situation.
“When our maintenance crews come upon a deer or some other dead animal, they will pull over and drag it farther away and let nature take its course,” Shanks said. “If it’s next to a home or commercial entity, or there’s a bad sight or smell, we haul the carcass away.”
Those that warrant removal are hauled to Bondad Landfill, but that doesn’t happen often. A Bondad employee said Monday she has not seen roadkill in two or three weeks. Most roadkill is moved out of sight near the road.
Hunting for roadkill
With his “roadkill kit” (consisting of bone saw, sharp knife and garbage bags) always in tow, local resident Joe Beal has been picking up roadside animals since he moved to the area in 1973. However, it’s been more than a year since he’s been able to get his hands on any.
Beal said when he’s able to hit the roadkill jackpot, he can keep his freezer full year-round. He said the job of field dressing is easiest, and more meat is salvageable when only the animal’s neck has been broken.
“Even if half of it’s ruined, you’d still get 75 to 80 pounds of meat,” Beal said. “If you saw a 200-pound lobster on the side of the road and it was still good, would you drive by? Hell, no. It’s a free lobster.”
People who turn roadkill into dinner are required to report their finding to Colorado Parks and Wildlife within 48 hours, though representatives said the department does not keep records on roadkill harvesters.
Under state law, it is legal to take edible portions from a kill along any road, but valuable parts such as antlers and hides are to be disposed.
CPW Area Wildlife Manager Matt Thorpe said a deer with small antlers, for example, doesn’t call for disposal, but large antlers and horns, as well as bears and mountain lions, are turned over to CPW.
The department has a procedure for hunters who want to donate the meat after shooting an animal, but spokesperson Joe Lewandowski said CPW does not advise eating roadkill.
Locally, one of the biggest trouble spots for roadkill incidents is the stretch of U.S. Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield. Between January 2010 and December 2014, there were 260 reported crashes involving wildlife in that corridor, accounting for 42 percent of all vehicle crashes reported in that time period. These crashes peak between 6 and 8 a.m. and again from 6 to 9 p.m.
CDOT is also hoping to combat collisions with the addition of a wildlife underpass at Highway 160 near Dry Creek, expected to be completed by spring 2016.
Despite these efforts, Shanks advises drivers to constantly be on the alert to minimize vehicle-wildlife incidents.
jpace@durangoherald.com
