Transportation officials on Thursday showed off a new way for wildlife to cross Interstate 70 without the threat of getting hit by a car or endangering motorists with the completion an underpass.

The I-70 & Genesee Wildlife Underpass is a new twin bridge structure between the Genesee Exit and Lookout Mountain Exit that features an underpass for wildlife to safely cross the highway.

The new construction also includes wildlife fencing along the stretch that works to funnel animals into the underpass rather than traveling across the highway.

The wildlife fencing extends east and westbound on I-70 from the Genesee Exit (Exit 254) to the Lookout Mountain Exit (Exit 256).

Wildlife ramps were added along the fencing so that if animals make it onto the highway, they have a way to get away from the traffic and back into safer areas, The Colorado Department of Transportation officials said. 

“This project really was a blend of ecology and engineering,” Francesca Tordonato, CDOT’s regional environmental program manager, said in an interview.

“We had to find suitable land where we could safely direct wildlife across I-70, and we wanted to do it in a safe and efficient way. Our environmental, engineering, and construction teams really worked together to make this happen,” she said.

The location of the bridge experiences the highest number of wildlife-vehicle collisions on I-70 east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, according to the transportation agency. 

“While working on the project, it was eye-opening to see how often blood is splattered on the road from vehicles hitting wildlife,” said Maddy Cieciorka, a project manager and engineer for the transportation agency. 

CDOT expects the new underpass and fencing to decrease those collisions by 90%.

This underpass is the “first major wildlife crossing to be constructed along the Interstate 70 Mountain Corridor,” CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew said in a statement.

The bridge reconstruction was a $10.3 million project designed to improve traffic flow and safety for drivers and wildlife, according to Lawrence Construction.

Construction began in late October and took about eight months to complete, according to Jim Martin, the project engineer from Atkins, the engineering consultant for the underpass.

“Something unique about this project is that the bridge isn’t raised. We constructed the bridge to be level with the rest of the road and then dug out the underpass from underneath,” Cieciorka said.

CDOT also added cameras on either side of the underpass to record wildlife coming through the tunnel.

The crossing was the first project completed under the larger $700 million Floyd Hill Project.

The Floyd Hill Project seeks to repair and improve roadways on I-70 from Idaho Springs to Evergreen through the creation of roundabouts, wildlife crossings, and transit shuttle stops in the Early Projects.