This project was selected as a High Value Research project in 2023 for RAC AASHTO Region 4.
MDT has accommodated a variety of wildlife species in the last two decades in a number of different ways. However, the processes, justification, and criteria used for recommending and implementing accommodations have varied just as the technology and practices in the field have rapidly evolved. This project investigates how to establish the process to incorporate these features into construction projects by a documented justification process to determine the appropriateness of including wildlife accommodations in project development and design. The overall objective is to develop a wildlife accommodations process and guidelines specifically tailored to meet MDT’s project development processes, Montana wildlife, and evaluate needs as well as feasibility. The process will not include modeling or linkage assessments, but will evaluate justification, feasibility of incorporating accommodation features, the timing and applicable methodologies that will optimized project development schedules.