Construction on the nation’s largest wildlife overpass is now complete. The structure stretches across Interstate 25 in Douglas County between Larkspur and Monument.
Although designed for elk and pronghorn, the 200-foot-wide Greenland Wildlife Overpass can provide a safe crossing for a variety of animals and connects nearly 40,000 acres of habitat on both sides of the six-lane interstate highway.
“Wildlife now can kind of go on a little bit of an adventure that they weren't (able to) before,” Kara Van Hoose with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.
An open line of sight across the overpass helps animals navigate it, according to Van Hoose.
“Unfortunately, wildlife can't read,” she said. “So it's not like we could put signs up saying, this is safe here, go here.”
It’s the last piece of a wildlife crossing system that covers about 18 miles and includes underpasses and fencing that's been in progress for nearly a decade.
“The I-25 Greenland Wildlife Overpass is critical to the safety of both wildlife and motorists,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew in a press release. “The overpass is an essential component of the wildlife crossing system in this area, which is expected to reduce wildlife-vehicle crashes by 90 percent.”
The $15 million Colorado Department of Transportation project to build the Greenland Wildlife Overpass began earlier this year. It was primarily funded by a federal grant, along with state and local agencies and nonprofit organizations.
