Design Competition Seeks to Make Wildlife Crossings Safer

A Canadian team has made the short list in a competition to help curb collisions between wildlife and vehicles.

Three moose walk across a road in Pinedale, Wyoming. A Canadian team has made the short list in an international design competition to help solve the problem of dangerous roadway collisions between wildlife and vehicles. Michael Smith/Newsmakers

A Canadian team has made the short list in an international design competition to help solve a worsening dilemma on roadways in many countries: dangerous collisions between wildlife and vehicles.

Among the five finalists is a team led by Toronto Landscape Architecture firm Janet Rosenberg & Associates, which has been engaged in the revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront.

The competition was initiated by the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University and the Woodcock Foundation in New York City, with support from a variety of Canadian and U.S. state agencies and organizations.

The creators of the ARC International Wildlife Crossing Structure Design Competition sought entries that showed “innovation in feasible, buildable, context-sensitive, and compelling design solutions for safe, efficient, cost-effective, and ecologically responsive wildlife crossings,” according to ARC’s website.

The first of its kind, the competition was open to landscape architects, transportation and structural engineers, and ecologists worldwide. The goal is to raise international awareness of a need to “better reconcile the construction and maintenance of road networks with wildlife movement,” ARC said.