Creating a Safer Connecticut with Wildlife Crossings
Connecting habitats, reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions and improving resilience across the state.
Healthy habitats. Safer travel.
The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut is advancing wildlife crossings to help animals move safely across the landscape, reconnect fragmented habitats and improve safety for people. Wildlife crossings include a wide range of structures—from large overpasses to small culverts—that allow animals to cross roads, railways and waterways while maintaining healthy habitat connectivity.
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Why Wildlife Crossings Matter
Across Connecticut, transportation infrastructure and altered waterways can fragment habitat and create dangerous barriers for wildlife on the move. Thoughtfully designed wildlife crossings—including overpasses, underpasses, culverts and other passageways—help animals safely navigate human‑made obstacles while supporting intact wildlife corridors.
Wildlife crossings support:
- Safety: Fewer wildlife–vehicle collisions mean safer travel for drivers and communities.
- Biodiversity: Connected habitats allow animals to migrate, feed and reproduce.
- Resilience: Restored movement pathways help wildlife adapt to climate change, development and shifting land use.
How Wildlife Crossings Work
Wildlife crossings are tailored to local species, landscapes and infrastructure types. They can include:
- Underpasses & Overpasses: Structures that allow wildlife to pass beneath or above roadways and rail lines.
- Targeted Fencing & Guide Rails: Features that funnel animals toward safe wildlife crossings and away from traffic.
- Aquatic Connectivity: Culverts, stream crossings and aquatic passages that maintain natural water flow and allow fish, amphibians and other aquatic species to move freely.
- Monitoring & Maintenance: Cameras, track pads and regular inspections that ensure wildlife crossings function effectively over time.
Together, these elements support safe passage for both terrestrial and aquatic species while maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Where We’re Focusing
TNC and partners are identifying priority locations across Connecticut where wildlife crossings can reconnect key habitats and reduce conflicts between people and wildlife. Focus areas include:
- Locations with high wildlife-vehicle collision rates
- Important migration, breeding and foraging corridors
- Areas near conserved lands, rivers and community green spaces
What's Next?
We’re building a pipeline of projects—from feasibility studies and design to construction and ongoing performance monitoring. As additional resources become available, we’ll share updates that highlight how wildlife crossings work and why they matter.
Get Involved
Conduct a planning‑level wildlife connectivity geospatial analysis to identify, prioritize and clearly communicate opportunities to improve habitat connectivity and reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions across Connecticut’s transportation network.
- Request for Proposals (.pdf)
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Question:
Is a Connecticut business license required at the time of bid submission, or prior to contract execution?
Answer:
A Connecticut business license or registration is not required at the time of bid submission. However, if selected, the vendor would be required to obtain all applicable licenses, registrations, and permits required to do business in Connecticut prior to execution of the agreement. Selection would be contingent upon satisfying those requirements.
Question:
Can TNC provide guidance regarding the anticipated project budget, including whether there is a target budget range or a not-to-exceed amount?
Answer:
The total budget for this project is not to exceed $200,000. Proposals should reflect the level of effort described in the RFP and associated deliverables and include a clear and justified budget aligned with the proposed approach and team structure.
Question:
Should the analysis focus on specific target species or habitats, or is the intent to prioritize broader wildlife movement and connectivity?
Answer:
The intent of this effort is to prioritize broader wildlife movement and connectivity across the state, rather than focusing exclusively on individual target species. However, proposers may incorporate species-, taxonomic class-, or habitat-specific considerations where they strengthen the analysis and are well justified.
Question:
Should proposers anticipate any in-person meetings (e.g., with advisory groups or partners)? If so, how should travel costs be incorporated into the budget?
Answer:
Proposers should assume that all engagement, including with the Project Team and the Advisory Working Group, will be virtual. If proposers anticipate travel as part of their approach, it should be clearly described and itemized within the proposed budget.
Question:
Can “data accessibility” in Task 3.2 be further defined, including expectations for data management, delivery formats, and responsibility for hosting project data?
Answer:
“Data accessibility” refers to ensuring that project data and outputs are well-documented, organized, and usable by project partners and appropriate public audiences at the conclusion of the project.
Final expectations include:
- Delivery of geospatial datasets in standard, widely accessible formats
- Appropriate metadata and supporting documentation
- Clear description of data structure, assumptions, and limitations
- ADA-compliant graphics and outputs, including accessible map symbology, text alternatives, adequate contrast, and other accessibility features required for public release
Project data will be hosted on CTDOT’s Open Data platform.
Question:
Is there an expectation that code, analytical workflows, and related work products used to develop project outputs (e.g., geospatial datasets and web maps) be provided to the Project Team? If so, are there preferred formats or platforms?
Answer:
Yes, there is an expectation that code, analytical workflows, and methods used to produce project outputs will be documented and shared with the Project Team.
Materials should be:
- Well-documented and clearly organized
- Accessible to project partners
In addition, all geospatial data deliverables must include comprehensive metadata compliant with CTDOT requirements, including ISO 19115 standards.
Proposers may recommend formats and platforms (e.g., scripts, notebooks, or repositories), but all submitted materials should support transparency, reproducibility, and long-term usability by project partners.
Question:
Beyond the technical deliverables described in the RFP, is there an expectation or interest in producing additional reports or peer-reviewed publications?
Answer:
The primary required deliverables are those described in the RFP, including the technical report and associated tools/datasets.
There is no expectation or requirement to pursue additional reporting, peer-reviewed publications, or post-project analysis beyond the defined scope. Proposals should focus on delivering the core products and outcomes identified in the RFP.
Question:
Is there prior work this project was built upon, or similar work completed elsewhere that has informed the services requested?
Answer:
This project builds on a growing body of work related to wildlife connectivity and transportation planning at the state and regional levels. During project scoping, several efforts were reviewed for general context, including projects undertaken in Vermont, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
These examples are provided for background only and are not intended to prescribe a specific framework or methodology. Proposers are encouraged to draw on relevant prior work as appropriate while tailoring their approach to the specific goals, geography, and context of this project.
Question:
Have any of the collaborating organizations/agencies identified or recommended a preferred analytical method for this project?
Answer:
No specific analytical methodology has been prescribed for this project. As described in Task 2.2 of the RFP, the selected consultant will collaborate with the Project Team and Advisory Working Group to further develop the analytical approach and conduct the geospatial analysis to identify priority road segments for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions, as well as critical habitat blocks and wildlife corridors important to species resilience and landscape connectivity.
Proposers are encouraged to recommend an approach appropriate to the project goals, available data, and geographic context, and to clearly justify their proposed methodology.
You can help bring wildlife crossings to communities across Connecticut:
- Donate: Support the planning, design and construction of wildlife crossings at priority sites.
- Advocate: Encourage wildlife‑friendly design in transportation and infrastructure projects.
- Share Data: Report wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots in your community.
- Partner: Municipalities and organizations can collaborate on site identification, design and funding.
Together, we can build safer connections—for people, wildlife and the landscapes that sustain us.
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