Crossing U.S. 101 can be a matter of life or death for animals.
Last year Caltrans counted three coyotes, three deer, four
raccoons, a bobcat and a fox killed along the U.S. 101.
Morgan Hill
Crossing U.S. 101 can be a matter of life or death for animals. Last year Caltrans counted three coyotes, three deer, four raccoons, a bobcat and a fox killed along the U.S. 101.
Now, the De Anza College Environmental Studies Department led by biologist Julie Phillips has proposed a project to build a “wildlife corridor” to save animals that migrate between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range.
“We have been working on the project since 2007,” Phillips said. “We had cameras in different places to see how they move, identify where they go and to improve their habitats. California is behind many countries about preserving wild animals.”
Many countries around the world have constructed wildlife crossings, including underpasses and overpasses to save animals, and also to increase traffic safety.
In the Netherlands, 600 tunnels have been built, in the form of ecoducts and underpasses, across the country to protect wild boar, roe deer and red deer. Canada’s Banff National Park has 22 underpasses and two overpasses for elk, black bear and grizzly bear, and in San Bernardino County, tunnels along State Route 58 protect animals when they cross.
Phillips and the Environmental Studies Department from De Anza proposed two locations to build the crossing around Coyote Valley.
Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center Executive Director Sue Howell, said the community “must know and learn that the animals live in this area and they’re beneficial to us,.”
“The underpasses and overpasses is a great idea, but first we need to know where the animals come from and where they will go,” Howell said.
Wildlife structures crossing types:
– Creek bridge underpasses
– Eliptical, metal culvert underpasses
– Prefabricated concrete box underpasses
– Open-span concrete bridge underpasses
– Wildlife overpasses
