Interstate 4 is getting its first overpass that will help panthers, bears and other critters cross one of the biggest barriers to the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
The construction site is a forlorn patch of weeds in Polk County. It's sandwiched between a warehouse on one side and Florida Polytechnic University's futuristic building on the other.
Bisecting it all is traffic-choking Interstate 4.
This is not a place you want to be. Even less so, if you're a bear or panther trying to get to the other side.
“So this is the first dedicated wildlife crossing overpass in the state of Florida,” said Brent Setchell, a design engineer with the Florida Department of Transportation. “It's going to be 44 feet wide and have noise walls on both sides, 8 feet tall.”
Animals will cross on dirt and grass, with the view of the busy highway blocked.
“And then on the outside when you're driving by, it'll have impressions of different animals on there,” he said. “So it'll have a deer, a bobcat, a panther and a bear on there.”
Those depictions are the reason why this is being constructed. The highway is a coast-to-coast blockade to the migration of wildlife up and down the state.
Why here? Its selection is an indication of how fast development along the I-4 corridor has blocked what few natural areas remain there. This is a chokepoint that will eventually connect the Tenoroc preserved area and the Peace River corridor to the south with the expansive Green Swamp to the north.
“This is the best opportunity we have to preserve this corridor, and this is the last thread in Polk County to be able to cross wildlife from south to north," Setchell said. "This is really our last chance.”
The crossing has been planned since at least 2017. The overpass under construction will cost about $18 million, with an pass just to the north under State Road 33 costing another $7 million.
Just a few miles to the east is an underpass that was created several years ago, when a new interchange was built just north of Winter Haven. The noise and vibration from the road above deters many critters from approaching. That’s why the overpass is being built.
Setchell led a tour recently under the superhighway.
“This is the I-4 — I call this the Western Green Swamp — crossing, but it basically connects the Hilochee Wildlife Management area on both sides of the road,” he told the crowd of environmentalists attending a conference on the wildlife corridor.
It flows under the highway, as huge trucks and endless rows of cars scurry to and from Tampa and Orlando. This is the only undercrossing on this part of I-4, although another one farther east is planned. On the east side of Orlando, three crossings were built when I-4 was widened several years ago.
The tale of a bear named M34 that traveled from Highlands County and tried to get to the north was the genesis for the idea of a Florida wildlife corridor. That’s an ambitious project to connect natural areas so animals can roam freely throughout the state.
The bear tried several times, but never made it across I-4. So back south it went for what turned out to be a 500-mile round trip.
Nicole Monies of the state transportation department says the underpass was designed with a creek flowing through it, to allow the passage of aquatic wildlife.
“We do have on videos alligators utilizing this as well, and then other aquatic creatures,” she said, “So it's really neat to see the terrestrial versus the aquatic species that are using this.”
"This is the first time the deer on the south side of I-4 have seen the deer on the north side of I-4 in more than 40 years," Setchell added. "That's essentially what's happened with this crossing."
There are more than 200 wildlife underpasses in Florida. The state is building them in areas where it is preserving land for the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The cost is not the overriding concern there.
“It's not actually that costly. It just takes somebody caring about it,” said Jared Perdue, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation.
During the Corridor Connect conference, held recently in Orlando, he said road planners are more actively considering wildlife crossings.
“Wildlife connectivity has become a big part of that, and we've even pushed that guidance out to designers,” he told the attendees. “And so if they're designing a bridge or something like that, making sure if it is an important area for wildlife that we're providing the space for them to get underneath or over — or whatever it takes.”
"It's good for Florida. It's good for Floridians. It's good for preservation," Perdue said.
Setchell said one of the motivations for getting transportation dollars set aside has been saving the Florida panther.
“So that's the connection to really get wildlife — specifically, the endangered Florida panther — out of South Florida and move them northward and to north Florida,” he said, “And the Green Swamp is the key connection for that corridor.”
He noted that the crossings can prevent collisions with wildlife on major highways. Just the day before, two motorcyclists hit a 6-foot-long alligator in the middle of I-4 near Orlando. They were thrown from their bikes, but survived.
The alligator — well, he was not so lucky.
