Wildlife Crossing Approved

In my neighborhood: $8.2M Oracle Rd. wildlife paths OK'd.

Mountain lions, mule deer and black bears won a victory Thursday when a regional transportation agency agreed to spend $8.2 million to build three wildlife crossings across a heavily traveled section of North Oracle Road in the Oro Valley area.

Starting in 2013, authorities will build two steel and concrete underpasses and an overpass between the Tortolita and Catalina mountains to make it easier for wildlife to cross the highway. A three-mile stretch of Oracle, also known as Arizona 77, in that area will be fenced, to funnel wildlife into the crossings...

Similar wildlife crossings are popping up increasingly across Arizona and the West. The state has built or planned 17 underpasses on Arizona 260 near Payson to accommodate elk, for instance. It is building three crossings near Hoover Dam to help desert bighorn sheep. More are planned for numerous state and federal highways in Arizona, including Interstates 40 and 17, U.S. 95 and 89 and Arizona 64.

The Tortolita-Catalina project will include the largest wildlife overpass built in Arizona and the first one built specifically for deer. Such crossings also are or will soon be in use in Washington state, Montana, Utah, Nevada and in Canada and Europe, officials said.