North America’s largest wildlife overpass is proving to be a big success. Nine months after completion, the Greenland Wildlife Overpass in Colorado has cut wildlife-vehicle collisions by 91 per cent, CBS Colorado reported on September 18.

Before the bridge opened over Interstate 25 near Larkspur and Monument, vehicles were hitting roughly one deer per day. The 209-by-200-foot structure now gives elk, deer, bears, mountain lions and moose safe passage over six lanes of traffic, with fencing and five underpasses guiding animals to it.

The overpass reconnects 39,000 acres of habitat. Pronghorn, which had been blocked from crossing I-25 for decades between Trinidad and Greenland, have been caught on camera using it — coming to the west side for the first time in decades.

Built in just one year at a cost of about $15 million, the project shows how targeted crossings can save both animal and human lives on busy corridors used by some 100,000 vehicles a day.