Why Did the Lynx Cross the Road?

Here’s a better question: did it make it to the other side? Crossing Colorado’s roads can be a dangerous feat. Each year, thousands of animals are killed while trying to get across the state’s busy highways, including elk, deer, mountain lions and lynx. And across the country, more than 200 people are killed and 26,000 are injured in wildlife-vehicle collisions annually.

Now designers are taking a creative approach to solving the problem of making roads safe for wildlife and people. Last night, judges announced the winner of the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Design Competition, a challenge to design a “next generation wildlife crossing” to be built at West Vail Pass on I-70 in Colorado.

And the winner is… !

Beating out four other finalists, Michael Van Valkenburgh & Associates, a landscape architecture firm with offices in New York City and Cambridge, Mass, took home the $40,000 first place prize. Their design team submitted a proposal for a bridge made of lightweight precast concrete panels that are snapped into place and covered with foliage (pictured above).

According to the New York Times,  “The bridge is broad enough to allow for strips — lanes, actually — that resemble forests, shrubs and meadows, with the aim of satisfying the tastes of any of the animals in the area. Miles of fences on either side of the highway would funnel animals to the bridge.”

Although the Colorado Department of Transportation has not committed to building an overpass in that particular location, it hopes to use the ideas generated in the competition to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions across the state.

Learn more:

Read more about the ARC Design Competition.

See how Defenders helped to make Colorado roads safer for wildlife and people.