Texas is building new bridges to save these endangered animals
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The Texas Department of Transportation is constructing bridges across the state to protect wildlife.

Summary

  • The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has built 32 wildlife crossings throughout the state to help keep both drivers and animals safe.

  • Twenty-one of the bridges were built in locations in South Texas, including Corpus Christi, Pharr, and Laredo, to protect ocelots, which are an endangered species.

  • Other wildlife crossings have been installed in Corpus Christi, El Paso, and Austin to protect other endangered species, such as the Houston toad and mule deer.

  • The crossings are concrete tunnels connecting existing wildlife paths under highways.

  • They are designed to guide wildlife to pass under the road rather than over it, which reduces the number of wildlife vehicle collisions.

  • The crossings also have benefits for humans, such as reducing collision-related expenses and improving highway safety.

  • So far, efforts to build wildlife crossings have been successful, with 26 documented sightings of species using the crossings.

  • Thirteen more of the crossings are planned for the Pharr area.

Additional details

  • The Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program is part of the $1.12 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which made $350 million available over five years for construction of wildlife crossings.