In Polk County, the Florida Department of Transportation is building a wildlife crossing bridge to protect the animals that live there.
Every day, more than 100,000 cars drive through Interstate 4, making it very hard for animals to cross.
“Black bears and Florida panthers have gotten into a few accidents on the interstates, but luckily there haven’t been that many because animals know it’s not safe for them to get close to the road.
“They turn around and go the other way,” said Brent Setchell, a drainage design engineer for FDOT’s District 1 office.
Since I-4 was built 50 years ago, it has stopped wildlife from moving around. The wildlife crossing bridge that FDOT wants to build will make it easier for animals to get to their homes on both sides of the highway.
“It will go over I-4 and join the Green Swamp in the north to Saddle Creek and Tenoroc Fish Management in the south. Setchell said, “Eventually, even farther south, to the Peace River corridor.”
This network of protected lands is home to a lot of different kinds of wildlife, and it is important for their survival that they are all connected.
“For more than 40 years, the deer on the south side of I-4 haven’t seen the deer on the north side of I-4. Setchell said, “This would be a one-of-a-kind chance to get that genetic diversity.”
The $11.9 million wildlife overpass will be the first one in the state that is used only by animals. The FDOT figured out that a bridge is cheaper than an underpass.
By giving animals a new way to cross, all species are protected, and threatened ones, like the Florida panther, get a chance to grow.
“They’re what we call a cover species. “If we protect the land that one panther needs, we end up protecting a huge number of other animals and even people,” said William Freund, head of the fStop Foundation.
If Gov. Ron DeSantis’s planned Moving Florida Forward plan is accepted, work on the I-4 Saddle Creek crossing will start in April 2024.
