Summit County garners $725K for I-70 wildlife crossings designs

DENVER (KDVR) — Summit County has obtained $725,000 to further the East Vail Pass Wildlife Crossing Project design process, according to a county announcement, in an attempt to protect wildlife and ensure better motorist safety.

The funds include $450,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s 2024 Restore Grant Program and $275,000 in matching funds from the Colorado Wildlife Safe Passages Fund. The project has been in consideration for years, according to local volunteer group Summit County Safe Passages.

“Since its passage in 2022, the Colorado Wildlife Safe Passages Fund has been instrumental in leveraging state, federal, and private foundation dollars to construct wildlife crossings in important places like I-70 East Vail Pass,” said Michelle Cowardin, Wildlife Movement Coordinator for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Co-Chair of the Colorado Wildlife and Transportation Alliance, in a release.

According to a 2020 feasibility study conducted in partnership between Summit County Safe Passages and the U.S. Forest Service and funded by Vail Resorts, Arapahoe Basin and the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, the project would create two wildlife underpasses and one overpass along the westbound lanes of I-70 between Copper Mountain and Vail Pass. Wildlife in the area identified among potential users of the passes includes elk, deer, moose, black bear and Canada lynx.

“The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and our partners are proud to help catalyze such a significant landscape connectivity effort,” said Chris West, Rocky Mountain Regional Director for NFWF. “In addition to the clear ecological benefits associated with this project, we hope that upon completion it will serve as an ongoing representation to the millions of travelers utilizing I-70 demonstrating how important our wildlife resources are to this region.”

According to Summit County Safe Passages, the possible wildlife crossings have been in the works since 2017. The project design and construction is estimated to cost $32 million when all is said and done.

“Since 2017, our small but mighty group of committed volunteers has envisioned creating safe passages for wildlife to move through Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains long-since severed by the bustling I-70 corridor,” said Julia Kintsch, board chair for Summit County Safe Passages, in a release. “Funding support from NFWF and Colorado’s Safe Passages Fund represents a major milestone on the path to reconnecting the East Vail Pass landscape for generations to come.”

According to the Summit County government, bridges are currently in place under the eastbound lanes, but the wildlife that seek habitat on both sides of the interstate cross the westbound lanes at grade, leaving the animals prone to car crashes. Because of I-70’s traffic volume, that means few animals will attempt the crossing and fewer still make it safely across the road.

According to the SCSP feasibility study, the section of I-70 sees an average of 22,000 vehicles daily. Across the state, thousands of car-wildlife crashes are reported, leading to millions of dollars in collision damages and hundreds of injured animals.

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