The study, published in the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies, says that out of 19 underpasses surveyed, only four raccoons passed through a single culvert. The authors, who also included researchers from the New York State Museum, set up camera traps and used tracking techniques to record animals using both drainage culverts and underpasses specifically designed for wildlife and human use.
The passage rates were much lower than those in Florida, where wildlife underpasses have been used with moderate success. The reasons why Adirondack wildlife avoid underpasses are unclear, though researchers suspect that popularity of certain underpasses among ATV-users may be partially to blame. During the same time-period that virtually no wildlife passed, the research team records 20 passes by ATVs.
Or the reason could be that wildlife simply do not like them. "A highway engineer's view of a nice underpass may be quite different from that of a white-tailed deer," said WCS researcher Dr. Justina Ray, a co-author of the study.
The authors say that the results of this study indicate that new interstates planned for the region, including the proposed "Rooftop Highway" to connect I81 and I87 from Watertown to Plattsburg, would have a heavy toll on wildlife.
"Any cost-benefit analysis regarding the proposed 'Rooftop Highway' must consider not only immediate costs to wildlife in terms of road-kills and population isolation, but also the added budgetary considerations needed to attempt to mitigate these costs," said Scott LaPoint, lead author of the study.