I am responding to the March 3 letter in the Herald from Dennis Larson in which he speculates on whether CDOT has researched the U.S. Highway 160 wildlife underpass (you bet: extensively) and also asks the question, “How are they going to train those deer to go in there?”
The answer: Fencing will guide the animals to the underpass. A still camera mounted inside our recently constructed underpass at U.S. Highway 550 north of Ridgway shows animals large and small enjoying the safe passage. What’s more, wildlife-vehicle collisions have been greatly reduced at that location (by up to 75 percent). Given that La Plata County leads the state in wildlife-vehicle collisions for the second year in a row – with U.S. Highway 160 between Durango and Bayfield seeing a very high percentage of those hits – it was time to not only save the animals, but protect the humans as well. There’s a great story about this in the Herald’s Dec. 9 edition for some more information.
Nancy Shanks, CDOT communications manager
Durango
