Safe Passage

The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project

great smoky mountains national park

Science Blog: Not just about the bears – Researchers consider mesocarnivore needs in Safe Passage study

By Steve Goodman, Volgenau Wildlife Research Fellow with National Parks Conservation Association & Co-research Lead for the Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Connectivity Study

Though the target species of our Safe Passage research are black bear, elk and white-tailed deer — selected because they are relatively easy to monitor and are of the highest concern from a driver safety perspective — they’re not the only animals we’ve studied through this project.

We’ve also collected data on mesocarnivores, which are small to mid-sized mammals whose diets are mostly comprised of other animals, and we are assessing their needs for safe passage under Interstate 40 as well. Mesocarnivores in our study area include bobcats, coyotes, gray foxes, long-tailed weasels, otters, raccoons, red foxes and Eastern spotted skunks.

While improving safe passage for larger mammals should, in general, benefit smaller critters too, several mesocarnivores have very specific requirements that we also must consider when planning new structures or improving existing ones.

We also always work on increasing our understanding of the needs of even smaller animals — like frogs, salamanders and snakes — but that is for a future blog.

Through wildlife camera research in the Pigeon River Gorge, Safe Passage researchers have observed these mesocarnivore species (and more), just within the forested I-40 right-of-way.

NCDOT to begin construction on wildlife crossing at Harmon Den

The bridge over Harmon Den Road at Interstate 40 Exit 7. Photo courtesy of Google Maps Satellite imagery

On Nov. 3, 2021, the North Carolina Department of Transportation announced preparations for significant construction on Interstate 40 over Harmon Den Road, at Exit 7 in Haywood County. Starting as soon as Nov. 9, a contractor for the NCDOT will begin work to replace the bridge at this exit, integrating wildlife crossings into the new structure.

The Harmon Den area has long been a hotspot for wildlife-vehicle collisions, and Safe Passage: The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project has advocated for building a wildlife crossing at this location. When the NCDOT announced plans to replace the existing bridge structure here, Safe Passage and its partners collaborated with the agency for a safe solution to fit this particular site.

The plans for the new Harmon Den bridge include two paths — one on each side of Cold Springs Creek — to help wildlife migrate from one side of the interstate to the other without encountering vehicles. A 9-foot tall fence will guide animals to the trails, away from traffic and under the bridge. 

NCDOT is also evaluating the use of wildlife guards — similar to slotted cattle guards — to prevent deer and elk from walking up the ramps. These measures will hopefully encourage wildlife to cross under the bridge and reduce the possibility of animal accidents. 

“We are excited to be adding protections for wildlife in this and other upcoming NCDOT projects,” said Division 14 Engineer Wanda Austin in a press release from the NCDOT. “We have worked with a wide variety of interest groups, transportation, and wildlife experts to incorporate these unique features to benefit the people who drive the gorge, and the animals that live in the gorge.”

Austin has been a participating stakeholder in the Safe Passage collaborative since its inception in 2017.

The traffic management plan for this project includes a six-month detour around the bridge, with drivers utilizing the exit and onramps. 

In late October and early November, construction crews from contractor Kiewit Infrastructure South have been mobilizing equipment and preparing to begin significant construction activities. By the first week of November, crews had already begun upgrading the exit and entrance ramps. 

As soon as mid-November, all traffic will be funneled into a one-lane pattern prior to the bridge and will use the ramps as a detour around the bridge. Traffic will remain in this pattern into May 2022 while crews remove and replace the deteriorating structure. 

In a feature article published by the Asheville Citizen Times on Nov. 5, Jeff Hunter, National Parks Conservation Association senior program manager and Safe Passage facilitator, thanks the NCDOT for its collaborative work to make I-40 a safer place for wildlife and motorists alike.

Black bears, elk, whitetail deer and other, smaller animals live in the surrounding mountains and naturally migrate across the area — and across the highway — looking for food, mates and habitat, Hunter told the Citizen Times.

In addition to the unique wildlife features, this five-bridge project is also the first of its kind in the state to be administered in a new method with the intent of forming a partnership between the NCDOT, the contractor and the design team. Kiewit Infrastructure earned the $19 million contract for the first of the five, which has a final completion date set in May 2024.

Exit 7 from I-40, where construction will soon begin to replace the existing bridge structure and add crossings for wildlife.

The current I-40 overpass as viewed from Harmon Den Road.

The result of the new construction manager/general contractor method is lower costs and expedited delivery from the first step in the design phase to the last inspection of the new bridge, and new safe passage underneath.

Drivers desiring to go from Asheville to Dandridge, Tenn., may choose to take I-26 West to Kingsport and then I-81 South to Dandridge. This route adds about 45 minutes to driving time compared to a typical trip through the gorge.

Accommodation or decimation: It’s time to choose how we share our mountains

Before you can solve a problem, you have to understand it. Like many other roadways around the nation, the Safe Passage project area — a 28-mile stretch along I-40 in western North Carolina and east Tennessee — has created a “barrier effect” for wildlife, fragmenting species’ habitats and separating wild animals from their needs.

Safe Passage is part of a growing national and global effort to create safe crossings for wildlife. Using a study and process known as road ecology, Safe Passage aims to help its target region plan and implement a variety of crossing structures, from culverts to bridge extensions and overpasses, designed just for animals.

A combination of fencing and crossing structures has been used successfully in countries all over the world, from France and Germany to Singapore and South Korea. In North America, Canada and Mexico have also successfully created effective crossings, and now, states like California, Colorado, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Utah are focusing on road ecology too.

Before coalition partners can begin increasing highway safety for animals and humans alike, states’ Departments of Transportation need scientific data to make informed plans. For the last two years, National Parks Conservation Association and Wildlands Network have been conducting field research to evaluate how roadways outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park influence black bear, white-tailed deer, and elk.

The researchers’ multi-faceted approach assesses wildlife’s use of existing structures, road mortality, and activity within the highway right-of-way. It also identifies and predicts elk road-crossing locations using movement information from GPS-collared elk. This will help identify areas along the interstate where mitigation strategies such as fencing and crossing structures could be best implemented to reduce wildlife–vehicle collisions and increase habitat connectivity.

Safe Passage shares Wildlife Crossings in the Smokies virtual program video

On January 28, Safe Passage hosted an educational virtual program with Jeff Hunter, senior program manager with National Parks Conservation Association in Asheville. In a free online event, facilitated through Zoom, Hunter spoke on recent innovations to provide safe passage options for wildlife. The event was co-sponsored by the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and the UT Arboretum Society.

Hunter’s work includes issues related to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. He also led the Tennessee Wild wilderness campaign focused on permanently protecting nearly 20,000 acres in the Cherokee National Forest, including 4.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

To host your own presentation (currently virtual-only, but with in-person availability in the future) for your civic group, organization, school or classroom, please visit our Educate Your Group page and inquire about event bookings.

Great Smoky Mountains Association releases ‘A Search for Safe Passage’ to teach young readers about wildlife crossings

Press Release from Great Smoky Mountains Association:

GATLINBURG, TN — Great Smoky Mountains Association is pleased to announce the publication of “A Search for Safe Passage,” an educational adventure for readers ages seven to 13 written by Frances Figart and illustrated by Emma DuFort.

“A Search for Safe Passage” tells the story of best friends Bear and Deer who grew up together on the North side of a beautiful Appalachian gorge. In the time of their grandparents, animals could travel freely on either side of a fast-flowing river, but now the dangerous Human Highway divides their home range into the North and South sides. On the night of a full moon, two strangers arrive from the South with news that will lead to tough decisions, a life-changing adventure, and new friends joining in a search for safe passage.

“Frances’ new book is a very accessible introduction to the problems and solutions associated with highways, traffic, and wildlife,” said Senior Research Ecologist Marcel Huijser (pronounced ‘Houser’) with the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University in Bozeman. “Through easily understandable stories of the animal characters, we learn that a busy highway can be a barrier to the search for food, water, mates, and new areas to live.”

The book is closely connected to Safe Passage: The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project, a new road mitigation campaign in Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It includes an additional nonfiction section with educational lessons about animal habitat requirements, behavior, migration patterns, and road ecology problems and solutions developed with input from international and local experts.

Figart’s passion to get involved with this cause began as a teenager in the Appalachian foothills in Eastern Kentucky not long after learning how to drive. After running over a snake on the way to work one day, she was so devastated she returned home, called in sick, and cried for hours.

“Today, each time I see a dead creature along the roadway, deep down I still react like that teenager who was devastated by one individual death,” said Figart. “I simply refuse to accept roadkill as a natural part of traveling in a mountainous region, and I know many others who feel the same way. There are viable and affordable solutions that have succeeded all over the world, and the time has come to do something about this issue in our biologically diverse Southern Appalachian landscape.”

The cover of Frances Figart’s “A Search for Safe Passage,” a chapter book that teaches young readers about wildlife and the “barrier effect” caused by highways, illustrated by Emma DuFort.

After joining Great Smoky Mountains Association as the Creative Services Director in 2017, she got involved with a group of federal, state, tribal, and non-governmental organizations discussing the need for wildlife-crossing structures along Interstate 40 near the park boundary. That group, with GSMA playing a key role, formed Safe Passage: The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project.

“When Taylor Barnhill, one of my colleagues on the Safe Passage project, asked me when I was going to write a children’s book about the need for wildlife crossings, at first I protested that I had too many other obligations,” Figart said. “But over the next six weekends, I wrote the eight-chapter book, channeling the 11-year-old kid in me and creating a narrative I would have enjoyed reading with my own mother at that age.”

This is the first children’s book by author Frances Figart and the debut book-length work by illustrator Emma DuFort. Figart also wrote “Seasons of Letting Go: Most of What I Know about Truly Living I Learned by Helping Someone Die.”

“A Search for Safe Passage” is available in the park’s visitor center bookstores and at GSMA’s online store at smokiesinformation.org.