Conservationists protest against inaction on State Road 224

Save People Save Wildlife is protesting outside the McPolin Barn during the Fourth of July holiday to demand more action to protect animals along the busy road between Park City and Interstate-80.

According to a 2019 study by the Utah Department of Transportation, State Route 224 is the fifth most involved road in Utah for vehicle-wildlife collisions.

A 2022 UDOT study found that there are four vehicle-wildlife collisions per mile on SR 224 each year.

Lorelai Combs was a member of Save People Save Wildlife protesting near the car traffic Wednesday morning. The group held signs criticizing Park City Mayor Nann Worel for the lack of progress in creating a safe wildlife crossing.

“We presented nearly 1,000 letters from the public to the City Council asking for safe passage for SR 224, and we raised over $240,000 in donations for safe passage for 224,” Combs said. “They returned our letters, and frankly we don’t know if they were even read, and they never reached out to the public, especially Nann Worel.”

City officials denied the claim that they had not consulted with the group, but declined to comment further on Wednesday.

Ultimately, UDOT controls the funding and design of the state highway, and any wildlife crossing is subject to its approval.

Save People Save Wildlife has long pressured UDOT to take action.

But UDOT spokesman John Gleason says crossing SR 224 simply doesn’t make practical sense for the agency. Gleason made those comments during an interview with the KPCW Local News Hour in April.

“This is not a traditional migration path for the animals,” Gleason said. “If we could build a crossing, we would basically just transport the animals in one quarter and they would have no other way out.”

Gleason says they are making minor changes to reduce the risk of collisions between vehicles and wildlife.

“We need to reduce the speed limit and put up more signs to make drivers aware of the problem. We will also continue to look at other possible solutions, perhaps even wildlife detection systems or more fencing,” he said.

UDOT has reduced the speed limit on SR 224 from 55 mph to 45 mph in 2022.

Save People Save Wildlife has also criticized High Valley Transit, which wants to widen SR 224 as part of its Bus Rapid Transit project between Park City and Kimball Junction. High Valley Transit Executive Director Caroline Rodriquez also says lower speed limits and signs are best. Rodriquez says a wildlife crossing on SR 224 is not supported by the agency’s data.

UDOT is seeking funding to support a $30 million proposal to build and rehabilitate wildlife crossings in Echo, where I-80 and I-84 meet.

The Federal Highway Administration has millions of dollars in funding for wildlife crossings as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Congress in 2021.

KPCW producer Sydney Weaver contributed to this report.