Where was a traffic accident reported on the Western Slope this summer?

Every year, vehicle-animal collisions are one of the leading causes of accidents in Colorado, and the frequency increases as you move west.

Since 2010, accidents involving animals have accounted for about 3% of all accidents in the state. This is reported by the Colorado Department of Transportation. (CDOT). In the agency’s northwestern region they make up about 10%.

A 2019 study The state transportation agency and Colorado Parks and Wildlife have found that 60% of wildlife vehicle accidents in Colorado occur on the Western Slope.

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CDOT publishes quarterly traffic crash data across the state. These estimates are based on reports from road maintenance crews and the traffic accident application, as well as app from Parks and Wildlife.

Where the reports come from varies slightly depending on where you are in Colorado. In 2023, reports of bodies in the west and northeast came primarily from maintenance crews (70% to 80%). In the Front Range and Southeast, nearly half were from these teams, and the other half were primarily from the Parks and Wildlife app.

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Due to data sources, there is a caveat that the data is underreported (although by how much is unknown) and there may be inequities in terms of where reports are compiled.

While the department cautions that these numbers are for information only, they provide insight into where and which animals are being attacked.

What have traffic accident reports looked like this summer on the Western Slope?

In its latest report, detailing the period from July to September, the department’s two western divisions regions — In the third region, which covers the north-west, and in the fifth, south-west, the largest number of road accidents was recorded.

The southwest region received 536 reports over those three months, or 31% of the total, and the northwest region received 430, or about 25% of the total.

This is consistent with data for the last two years. In 2023, Region 5 had 2,445 reports, about 150 more than Region 3. In 2022, the Southwest had 2,470 reports, about 300 more than the Northwest.

The July-September reports also track closely with the overall figures recorded in the previous April-June quarter.

Across all regions of the state, mule deer account for the largest percentage of animals hit and killed. The Department of Parks and Wildlife estimates that 2% of the state’s deer are killed each year in vehicle collisions, resulting in a road fatality rate that exceeds the annual harvest of hunters.

From July to September, deer accounted for 37% of road fatalities in the Northwest. Next came black bears, which accounted for 17% of reports; unknown corpses – 15% of reports; and raccoons (7%).

Of the 74 reported road kills of black bears in Region 3, more than half (41) occurred on Interstate 70. Seventeen occurred on Colorado Highway 82, an 85-mile stretch of road that begins in Glenwood Springs and runs through the Roaring Fork Valley and over Independence Pass and ends south of Leadville.

In the previous quarter, from April to June, deer accounted for an even higher 66% of carcasses reported in the region. However, there were fewer bears and they made up only 3% of the total.

In the Southwest, about 68% of reported traffic accidents over the past two quarters involved deer.

Although summer is a busy time, based on historical data, CDOT typically reports the highest number of traffic accidents in October and November as the weather begins to change with daylight hours.

Where are the high risk areas for collisions with wild animals?

While the quarterly reports provide only a snippet of information about the deadliest highways for animals, the government agency notes that they should only be used to study the same stretches of road over time.

Typically, the highest reports in the northwest come from portions of I-70, Colorado Highway 9, Colorado Highway 82, US 50 and US 40.

From July to September in the northwest region, U.S. 40, which in that region runs from the Utah state line near Dinosaur and crosses the Grand and Clear Creek county line, accounted for 21% of the reported carcasses, I-70 reported. by 18% and on Colorado Highway 82 by 8%. More than half of the reports on US 40 in those three months were between the Routt-Moffat County line and Milner.

This was a higher percentage for the 40 US states in the region compared to the previous quarter, when it accounted for 13% of reports from April to June. There were more reports on I-70 between late spring and early summer (about 23% of the total). During that period, about 6% of reports came from each of Colorado Highways 9 and U.S. 50. In this region, Colorado Highway 9 runs from I-70 in Silverthorne north to Kremmling. US 50 runs from the state border with Utah in Mesa County through Delta and Gunnison counties in the region.

Looking at larger trends over time, the data was used to identify sections of highways in Colorado with a high risk of vehicle-wildlife collisions, including 2019 Western Slope Survey.

This study found that most of the high-risk sites were in the northwestern region. Among those identified as the highest priority in this corner were sections of Colorado Highway 13, both between Meeker and Craig, and north and south of both cities, US Highway 40 both west and east of Craig , and I-70 between Rifle and Glenwood. Springs.

Parks and Wildlife also reports that I-70 in Eagle and the portion of Colorado Highway 82 between Glenwood Springs and Aspen are among the state’s high-risk areas.

Ultimately, the purpose of the larger report and quarterly traffic accident data is not only to reduce traffic accidents, but also to guide decision-making on wildlife mitigation.

Several projects to build safe passages for wildlife are currently gaining momentum in Colorado. Building on the success of crossings on Colorado Highway 9 south of Kremmling in 2016, projects on East Vail Pass and Highway 82 from Glenwood to Aspen are among those in the state seeking funding to build wildlife infrastructure.