Tunnel Vision

Saving animals by helping them cross the road

Photo: Nicole Bergen, left, and Natalie Sherwood check the tunnels’ pitfall traps.

Animals on the move in search of food, mates or safety put themselves in harm’s way when crossing roads. Now, thanks to a team of Montclair State University researchers and a system of tunnels and specialized fencing, turtles, frogs and other reptiles and amphibians can safely cross River Road in Bedminster, New Jersey, where large numbers of animals have traditionally become road kill.

Montclair State biology professor and Passaic River Institute Director Meiyin Wu and her team are collaborating with the Township of Bedminster and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Division of Fish and Wildlife to assess how effective the innovative wildlife crossings are in reducing the number of animal-collision fatalities.

River Road’s unique system of five wildlife-crossing tunnels is the first of its kind in New Jersey.

“An initial survey done in 2010 found high animal usage on this section of River Road and showed that mitigation was needed,” says Wu.

River Road’s unique system of five wildlife-crossing tunnels, or culverts, is the first of its kind in New Jersey and is part of Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ), a statewide project that seeks to save animal lives by helping them move more freely.

Wu’s team, which includes one undergraduate and six graduate students, has collected data for a detailed tunnel usage study to be released in summer 2016.

From early April through June, volunteers arrived between 6 and 9 a.m. to check the pitfall traps, partially embedded in the ground near the entrance of the tunnels. “When we found critters in the pitfall traps, we identified and photographed them, then crossed them to the opposite side of the road,” explains Natalie Sherwood, an environmental management PhD candidate who is coordinating the project.

While the project focuses on amphibians and reptiles, it also accounts for any animal that falls into the pitfall traps. In addition to turtles, American toads, green frogs, wood frogs and grey tree frogs are among the species given a safe crossing.  “We haven’t tallied up all the data yet, but we have gotten well over 150 animals in a single day,” Sherwood says.