How animal crossings help reduce wildlife collisions in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Wildlife activity picks up in the fall, and that means animal-related car accidents are more prevalent.

The Utah Department of Transportation has designated animal crossings in areas where wildlife is particularly heavy across the state. And they’ve been seeing a lot of success, especially in areas like the Parleys Summit exit on U.S. 189 in Parleys Canyon.

“About a 76% reduction in wildlife collisions in this area,” said Matt Howard, UDOT’s resource manager.

The Parleys Summit area is prone to deer, elk, porcupine and even bear crossings. But one of the priorities of building this crossing back in 2020 was to mitigate altercations with moose.

“They’re so leggy. So they’re right at the level where if a car hits a moose, the entirety of their body goes into the windshield,” Howard said.

Howard said that the success at the Parleys Summit crossing is on par with a lot of their other crossings across the state. However, in years where there is extra heavy snowfall, animal activity increases, so they plan on adding onto that crossing.

“This is a phased approach, so we’ll have to continue fencing on either end to make sure we button up this entire corridor. But where we’ve put in fencing at the crossing, there’s been a really significant decrease,” Howard said.

Additionally, two more wildlife projects are in the works. They’re working on a crossing in Central and Eastern Utah, and another near Kanab and Zion National Park.

UDOT is also in the grant-writing process, so they can move forward on other areas. But despite the success of the crossings, drivers need to be on high alert this time of year when animal activity increases and daylight decreases.

Read more: UDOT moving forward with safety project near Sardine Canyon in Cache County