Wildlife corridors aim to make Pennsylvania roads safer for animals and drivers
While many Pennsylvania drivers have collided with a deer, few think about the smaller wildlife killed on roads every day. Wildlife corridors help address that problem.
Although wildlife corridors are a fairly recent development in Pennsylvania, their impact on conservation is growing. According to Stephanie Wein, a conservation advocate for PennEnvironment, these corridors use natural land strips, modified roads and wildlife ladders to provide animals with safe passage across fragmented habitats.
“Habitat fragmentation is one of the greatest threats to wildlife globally, with human infrastructure like roads breaking it up. It also poses a major threat here in Pennsylvania to human safety, with Pennsylvania topping national lists every year for animal-vehicle collisions,” Wein said. “Despite this, Pennsylvania has never had a cohesive, statewide approach to address habitat fragmentation and establish wildlife corridors.”
Due to this issue, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his administration announced the creation of the Pennsylvania Wildlife Connectivity Work Group ON July 1, a first-of-its-kind statewide conservation partnership.
There are already plans to include wildlife walkways under the Route 528 bridge over Big Run in Butler County when it begins construction in 2028. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has incorporated wildlife accommodations into major transportation projects in Armstrong, Butler, Somerset and Centre counties, according to the state’s website.
While often unnoticed by drivers, salamanders, frogs and turtles play vital roles in our ecosystem. But many are struck and killed by vehicles while crossing roads that stand between them and their habitats, like creeks, ponds and forest.
“Of course we want people to hit fewer deer, but what that doesn't capture is the many smaller animals that are also killed on our roadways. Salamanders, for example, it only takes a few cars in an hour to have 80% mortality of amphibians,” Wein said. “Salamanders specifically are crossing the roads in the first warm nights of March from the forest floor to ponds to breed on those nights; there can be a huge loss just from a few cars.”
Wein added that a good way to solve that problem is by adding a simple stormwater culvert under the road that is built correctly. And for reptiles, amphibians and fish, if the existing stormwater culvert can be retrofitted, it becomes a powerful wildlife crossing.
“We felt pretty strongly about people understanding that it is not just about white-tailed deer hot spots, which are important, but looking at all the species that are impacted, even the ones that, as a driver, we may not see,” Wein said. “This is where the Fish and Boat Commission comes in, as they have a lot of expertise on retrofitted stormwater culverts.”
On a local level, Moraine State Park hosts educational events during the summer, where children can learn about salamanders and even catch some. Mike Shaffer, an environmental education coordinator at Moraine State Park, ran one of these programs Thursday, July 9, at the park.
“There are definitely places we can do a wildlife corridor where we know there is a high migration area, and we know that they are going to cross during a specific time of year. I also know that other places are doing it, like Canada and California,” Shaffer said. “The biggest thing we need to do is protect the environment, so if we can actually save the habitat, we can save the species. We also need to pay attention to what time of year it is and how we impact wildlife with our travel.”
Locally, PennDOT understands the impact of roads on wildlife and has partnered with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as part of a collective work group that is addressing the issue.
“These roads create an obstacle between one part of a habitat and another. One of the most significant threats to wildlife is collisions with vehicles, not to mention the danger to travelers,” said Christina Gibbs, community relations coordinator for PennDOT District 10, which includes Butler County. “Installing wildlife crossings that connect these habitats with safe passages across the roads can reduce the risk for both wildlife and drivers.”
The idea for wildlife corridors didn’t come out of nowhere, as the stats back up the clear need for them in Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool, a PennDOT project, there were more than 1,200 deer-involved vehicle crashes in Butler County between 2016 and 2025.
According to a study by State Farm, Pennsylvania also has the fifth most animal collisions of any state, at a rate of 1 in 62. From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, State Farm estimated 1.7 million auto insurance claims in the U.S. from animal collisions, with 1.1 million of these claims being deer-related.
Collisions with animals also come at a high price for society. According to the state’s website, medical bills factored into a $9,200 cost per deer-vehicle crash. A 2020 study by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation revealed that wildlife-vehicle crashes can be reduced by as much as 97% when a combination of crossings, fencing and jump-out ramps is used.
“Pennsylvania is always at, or near, the top of the national list for animal vehicle collisions, and we are also of hemispheric and ecological importance as we have some of the biggest forests east of the Mississippi,” Wein said. “If you hit a deer, a bear or an elk, those are claims that are generally taken up with insurance, and we want people to hit fewer deer because we would rather hunt our game species than have them on the road.”
A key element to the protection of wildlife and fewer accidents is the collaboration of state agencies — including PennDOT, DCNR, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat and Pennsylvania Game Commission — to ensure the safety of both humans and animals. According to Wein, PennDOT repairs over 4,000 miles of roads a year, which makes planning vital.
