New Northeast California Wildlife Crossing Giving Deer, Elk More Safe Passages Over Highway 97

From the suburban chaos of Southern California to the remote hinterlands of the Eastern Sierra, wildlife crossings are giving critters a better chance of traversing the busy road system of the Golden State. KRCR TV in Redding has some details about a new crossing above Highway 97 in Northeast California that is paying dividends for deer and elk:

A new wildlife crossing over U.S. Highway 97 near Grass Lake is giving deer and other animals a safer way to move across a stretch of Siskiyou County that has seen dozens of wildlife-vehicle collisions.

The crossing is about 100 feet long and 140 feet wide and was built in an area surrounded by private timberland and the nearby Klamath National Forest. Between 2015 and 2020, more than 50 deer and 16 elk were killed in vehicle collisions along the highway.

The U.S. 97 Wildlife Crossing Structure Project, developed in partnership with Caltrans and other agencies, is designed to reduce collisions while improving wildlife movement across the landscape.