Here's how Florida wildlife crossings increase animal, human safety

Driving down Florida highways, you might not notice all the animals traveling along with you.

Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) trail cameras all across the state capture all sorts of animals traveling using wildlife crossings.

Wildlife crossings are a way to connect animals with more of their natural habitat that would otherwise be bisected by a road or highway.

A 1.5-mile-long stretch of the Wekiva Parkway features several wildlife crossings near the Wekiva River and Seminole State Forest. 

Mary Brooks, a spokesperson for the Wekiva Parkway Project, has seen the project go from lines on paper to completion after 2 decades.

"A lot of thought went into the design of the bridge... the color of the bridge," Brooks said.

Brooks gave FOX 35 a tour of one of the crossings.

"We knew that there needed to be things done to help protect the wildlife as well as to help us get around for our daily life," Brooks said.

Brooks shared a video from several years ago showing a scared bear running away from State Road 46. It wanted to cross the road, but cars scared it off.

"It would have been right here at ground level where we're standing and going across the river, so wildlife that needed to go from the north end of the habitat to the south end, they would have had to contend with the traffic on the road," Brooks said.

Wildlife crossings are safer for animals, which means they're safer for us, too. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) estimates that 200 Americans die each year in more than one million car crashes with wildlife. In 44 crossings in a part of Canada, research showman 80% reduction in these crashes.

"They are able to move between habitats with no real interactions with major traffic," Brooks said. "From a people standpoint, especially at night, when people were driving along 46 back in the day, you had to be very vigilant."

There are more than 70 wildlife crossings in Florida. About half of them are on I-75. All of them right now are underpasses. 

The first overpass is in the works in Polk County above I-4.

Katrina Shadix, the leader of conservationist group Bear Warriors United, said she's been pushing for years to bring more wildlife crossings to Florida.

"Since we are the ones destroying their homes, forcing them out of the woods with deforestation and development," Shadix said.

 "The least we can do is give them safe passage."Shadix said it's exciting to see the state considering wildlife crossings in its growth plans."The outlook isn't so bleak," Shadix said. 

"We can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it's a tunnel with a wildlife underpass."

USDOT launched a wildlife crossing pilot program last year. It plans to make $350 million in funding available to states that build wildlife crossings.

Both FDOT and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles told FOX 35 they did not specifically track collisions with wildlife or didn't have any crash data.

 A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission article did explain how wildlife crossings helped reduce panther deaths. "Panther deaths caused by vehicle collisions have been sharply reduced in areas where crossings and fencing are in place," the article reads.