Wildlife Connectivity and Which Median Barrier Designs Provide the Most Effective Permeability for Wildlife Crossings

Median barriers are usually constructed to reduce head-on-crashes between vehicles on undivided highways and the type (e.g. cable, metal beam, concrete) based on state requirements for crash mitigation. Because of their position in the center of the traveled right-of-way, median barriers could affect wildlife movement across the right-of-way, decreasing wildlife connectivity. There are several types of center-median and right-of-way edge barriers, with cable barriers possibly providing the most wildlife permeability and concrete Jersey barriers the least. This research consists of two primary objectives: first, identifying opportunities, information gaps, existing resources (e.g. existing Caltrans guidance) and research needs by engaging non-government organizations (NGO), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists who expressed interest in working on this project; second, with input from these biologists, conduct a preliminary investigation for at least ten (10) sites, each with concrete median barriers, cable guards or thrie-beam barriers, and vegetated/developed medians, for comparison of rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) with large and all wildlife, as indicators of wildlife connectivity.

• Record URL:
  https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/project/wildlife-connectivity-and-which-median-barrier-designs-provide-most-effective-permeability

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $104554
• Contract Numbers:

  DOT 69A3552348319

  DOT 69A3552344814

  Caltrans 65A0686 Task Order 085

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  California Department of Transportation

  1227 O Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95843
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Project Managers:

  Iacobucci, Lauren

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Sustainable Transportation

  University of California, Davis
  Davis, CA  United States 

  University of California, Davis

  1 Shields Ave
  Davis, California  United States  95616
• Principal Investigators:

  Shilling, Fraser

• Start Date: 20240402
• Expected Completion Date: 20241231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Animal vehicle crashes; Crash rates; Highway design; Median barriers; Vegetation; Wildlife crossings
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01914168
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Sustainable Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348319, DOT 69A3552344814, Caltrans 65A0686 Task Order 085
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Apr 11 2024 7:35AM