In Arizona, elk and cars collide far too often. The state reports an average of 1,270 wildlife-vehicle collisions each year, and officials are putting more money into wildlife crossings to bring that down.

Earlier this year, Arizona passed its 2027 fiscal state budget, including dedicated funding for planning and construction of wildlife crossings, with a recurring annual appropriation of $700,000.

The funding update comes as the Arizona Department of Transportation builds the state’s 27th highway wildlife crossing, the Willard Springs Wildlife Overpass. The structure will be 100 feet wide and stretch over Interstate 17, 12 miles south of Flagstaff.

The concrete bridge will span all four lanes from east to west. It will include tall parapets, 8 miles of new fencing, native vegetation plantings, escape ramps and adjoining structures designed to guide animals onto the crossing.

“Crews are right now installing miles of tall fencing on either side of the overpass,” a video shared by the Arizona DOT in September 2025 explained. “This will act as a funnel to guide [animals] through the crossing.”

After a winter shutdown, the state expects the overpass to be finished by fall 2026. The project cost $15.8 million and is funded by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The crossing is aimed at reducing collisions involving large animals such as elk, deer and other wildlife. According to Arizona Public Radio, the Game and Fish Department selected the site after detailed research tracking radio-collared elk as they migrated, searched for food and water, and found mates.

More than half of the collisions on that stretch of road over the past four years involved wildlife. Arizona officials chose the crossing approach because it had already shown results elsewhere in the state.

Arizona has 26 dedicated highway wildlife crossings, along with a large network of underpasses and a canal network for wildlife. Those dedicated crossings include 13 underpasses for elk and deer along State Route 260, three overpasses and two underpasses for Desert Bighorn Sheep along U.S. Highway 93, one overpass and five underpasses along Interstate 11, and one overpass and one underpass for the Sonoran desert ecosystem along State Route 77.

The Willard Springs project is one of three new structures that will add three overpasses in total. The others are another Interstate 17 crossing at Kachina Village and an Interstate 40 crossing west of Parks.

According to Arizona Public Media, Arizona’s wildlife corridors have been credited with an average 90 percent drop in wildlife-related accidents.

“By investing in dedicated funding for wildlife crossings, the state can help reduce dangerous and costly collisions while reconnecting animal habitat across the landscape,” Pew’s Andres Esparza, who supports conservation efforts in Arizona, praised the state’s updates. “These projects are proven to deliver lasting benefits for drivers, wildlife, and local communities.”

Once the Willard Springs crossing is complete, experts plan to re-collar elk and use cameras to monitor how well it works.

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