Arizona News – The Arizona Department of Transportation is set to start work this month on an Interstate 17 project to construct an overpass crossing for wildlife south of Flagstaff. The project, funded through a federal grant, is an effort to improve wildlife habitat connections while reducing the risk of crashes involving animals, especially elk and deer.
ADOT is partnering with the Arizona Game and Fish Department on the $15.8 million wildlife overpass project, 12 miles south of Flagstaff, which also will install 8-foot-tall wildlife fencing along more than 8 miles of the interstate. This stretch currently has no bridges and only one road culvert suitable for use by elk and deer.
The earth- and native vegetation-covered wildlife overpass north of Willard Springs Road (milepost 327.4) will be 100 feet wide and designed to allow a variety of animals, ranging from bears to elk, to cross over the highway. Two bridge spans will include steel-reinforced concrete girders. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2026.
Most funding for the project comes from a grant through the Federal Highway Administration’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.
Crews will pave temporary I-17 median crossovers in the area to allow traffic to be shifted to one side of the highway, as needed, to limit closures while the overpass is being built. Safety barrier walls will be placed between the two directions of travel.
Drivers should allow extra travel time when I-17 is narrowed to one lane in each direction for the project.
The area that involves the new overpass and fencing construction accounted for 58% of crashes involving wildlife from Stoneman Lake Road to Flagstaff between 2018 and 2022. And within that longer 32-mile stretch, about 75 percent of all crashes with wildlife involve elk, which can weigh up to 1,100 pounds.
Real-time highway conditions are available on ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov and via the AZ511 app (download free for Apple and Android devices). ADOT also provides highway condition updates via its X/Twitter feed, @ArizonaDOT.