Maryland State Highway Administration Awarded Grant to Advance Wildlife Crossings
The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration has received a US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration grant to advance the wildlife crossings on and along state highways. The State Highway Administration was awarded nearly $388,000 through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. This funding with enable the State Highway Administration to:
- Identify areas and locations along state highways where there are high volumes of wildlife- vehicular collisions;
- Establish design guidance to reduce wildlife-vehicular collisions on state routes; and
- Support enhanced public engagement and awareness of wildlife-vehicular collisions and the importance of habitat connectivity.
In developing the Wildlife Crossing Program, the United States Congress determined that there are more than 1,000,000 wildlife vehicle collisions annually in the United States.
Additional Information (second grant):
The State Highway Administration was awarded $150,000 through the Roadside Pollinators Program that will:
- Enable the department to improve the SHA Pollinator Plan
- Adopt pollinator-friendly best management practice related to maintenance and operations;
- Develop and install roadside signs identifying established roadside meadows; and
- Create eight roadside or median pollinator meadows in five counties across the state with a goal of constructing nearly eight additional acres of crucial of pollinator habitat.
Maryland is home to more than 400 species of native bees, the most important group of pollinators in the state according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Bees – Maryland’s Wild Acres). Other valuable pollinators include beetles, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. These animals support a healthy ecosystem and are essential for food production and food for other wildlife.
For a list of all major State Highway Administration projects, visit Project Portal or the homepage at roads.maryland.gov. For a look at real-time traffic conditions, go to md511.maryland.gov.
