By Arizona Department of Transportation
The Federal Highway Administration has awarded Arizona a $24M grant for a wildlife overpass and other improvements designed to reduce crashes involving wildlife and better connect habitats along Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff in northern Arizona.
The Arizona Department of Transportation, in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, sought the grant through FHWA’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program for improvements along 8.4 miles of I-17 between the Munds Park traffic interchange, about 25 miles south of Flagstaff, and the Kelly Canyon traffic interchange to the north.
The I-17 wildlife project is one of 19 nationally to receive funding through the first round of $110M in grants from FHWA.
In addition to the I-17 wildlife overpass, which is planned for milepost 327.4 in the Willard Springs area, the project also will include new eight-foot-tall wildlife fencing tying into existing culverts, ramps to help wildlife escape fenced areas and double cattle guards at interchanges. It will connect with a Game and Fish project that will retrofit wildlife fencing along six miles of I-17 south of Munds Park that directs wildlife to two existing large bridges. The nearly 15 miles covered by these two safety projects accounted for 58% of crashes involving wildlife between 2018 and 2022 between Stoneman Lake Road and Flagstaff. In this 31.7-mile stretch, around three-quarters of all crashes between vehicles and wildlife involve elk, which can weigh up to 1,100 pounds.
The area between Munds Park and Kelly Canyon is one of three priority areas proposed by the state for new wildlife overpasses because of higher potential for collisions involving wildlife, particularly elk and deer. The other interstate freeway locations identified as potential sites for wildlife overpasses are I-17 near the Kachina Boulevard interchange, about six miles south of Flagstaff, and Interstate 40 west of Parks. ADOT and its partners continue to seek funding for projects at the other two priority sites.
Identified by the federal, state and Coconino County governments as a high priority corridor for elk movement, the 8.4 miles of I-17 through the Willard Springs area currently has no bridges and only one road culvert suitable for use by elk and deer. The wildlife overpass will be 100 feet wide and designed for use by elk, deer, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, black bears, mountain lions and smaller animals.
A projected start date will be determined in the coming months. The project will require completion of final design, including environmental review, project programming and other required steps. This process will be initiated due to the federal grant.
For the project funded by the Federal Highway Administration grant, Game and Fish has committed $1.5M in matching funds along with $750,000 toward project design. Game and Fish also received a $1M America the Beautiful Challenge grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that, along with $387,000 in matching funds, will be used for the fence retrofit along I-17 south from Munds Park. (Source)
