From the perspective of wildlife and transportation officials, the everyday threat of wildlife-involved car collisions is not an “if” but a “when.”
In 2025, statewide roadkill data showed 7,770 car wrecks occurred with wild animals, not counting unreported accidents.
“Mule deer, moose and elk – if you hit these large animals, it could be a loss of life. As traffic increases statewide, elk and deer have to move. They have such large home ranges providing for their life requirements,” said Michelle Cowardin, Colorado Parks and Wildlife movement coordinator.
Plus, she added, drivers are now more distracted. Between 2010 to 2024, Colorado Department of Transportation recorded over 54,000 animal-car collisions, 48 of which were fatal to humans and over 5,100 left motorists injured.
The environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb’s book “Crossings” explores the field of road ecology. Goldfarb’s text points to hundreds of millions of animals killed in crashes. Whereas roads serve purposes of human travel, they pose “alien” sources of death for animals while also affecting biological migration capabilities.
The passing of state legislation, Senate Bill 26-141, creates a dedicated funding source for wildlife crossings providing for the planning, engineering, and building stages.
State partners like CPW, CDOT and the Wildlife & Transportation Alliance have for decades strategized and built innovative systems to allow animals to cross habitats safely. The state departments have 75 wildlife crossing structures in the database – although not all operate the same.
The departments have erected several massive structures across highways and at hot spot intersections, combining multiple safety features for successful passage that include underpasses, overpasses, miles-long fencing and sometimes escape ramps or deer guards.
“Securing the long-term funding was very important for us in Colorado,” Cowardin said. “Through wildlife transportation studies, CDOT and CPW identified hundreds of miles in need of wildlife crossings, and now that money can now be leveraged with federal transportation grant funds.”
Gov. Jared Polis signed the act for wildlife crossing funding in May. It was primarily sponsored by Sens. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, and Dylan Roberts, D-Routt County, and Reps. Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction.
The bill authorizes an optional $5 collision prevention fee that will be collected during vehicle registrations beginning in 2027. The revenue – an expected $4 million annually – will be credited to two funds: CDOT’s Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise Fund and a CPW fund for maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity.
Colorado has built wildlife passageways since the 1960s that have proved useful to both humans and the state’s thriving Rocky Mountain elk herd, as well as numerous other native wildlife species such as bighorn sheep, pronghorn, black bears and moose. But early infrastructure, such as standalone culverts, were not the sound, highly customized infrastructure built specific to regional landscapes today.
Current examples include the 2015 Colorado Highway 9 project between Kremmling and Silverthorne, which resulted in five wildlife underpasses and two overpasses, about 10 miles of wildlife fencing, landscaping and widening road shoulders to about 8 feet. Data provided in the senate bill shows officials believe the Highway 9 project has reduced collisions by 92% since 2016.
The project cost $40 million and affects 3,100 to 3,600 vehicles daily, according to CDOT.
Cowardin said project costs may vary depending on the amount of structures and existing topography.
“For these projects to be successful, you need wildlife fencing. If you have fencing, you must have escape ramps, and then you need wildlife guards. There always has to be a system,” she said.
Locally, the U.S. 160 Mesa Verde project is still in the works and has been named a Wildlife & Transportation Alliance priority for 2026. From the western edge of Cortez to just past Mancos, CPW recorded 404 wildlife‑vehicle crashes from the years 2020 to 2025.
The project focuses on constructing a large-game underpass near Mesa Verde National Park and Cortez on 160 – a corridor well-known for conflicts between motorists, mule deer and black bears because it is a popular winter-range site. Crossings for smaller-sized animals are also planned, including drainage systems and culverts.
CDOT spokesperson Adair Christensen said the project timeline is currently in design phases, expected to be constructed in the early 2030s.
awatson@the-journal.com
