Post by Kermit D Frog on Aug 2, 2007 7:44:55 GMT -5
Parkway tunnels to offer safe passage for critters to cross road
by Tom Feeney
Tuesday July 31, 2007, 9:07 PM
Snakes, frogs and salamanders may never be stuck in Shore traffic again.
The long-planned widening of the Garden State Parkway through the Pinelands will include a series of wildlife tunnels designed to let five threatened or endangered species of reptiles pass safely from one side of the highway to the other.
The passages and 6.7 miles of concrete walls to channel the reptiles into them and off the road will cost about $9 million, Turnpike Authority officials said.
The widening project will disrupt the habitats of 14 animals on the federal or state threatened or endangered species lists, a Turnpike consultant found. Nine of the animal species were birds. The other five - the timber rattlesnake, the northern pine snake, the Pine Barrens tree frog, the Cope's gray tree frog and the eastern tiger salamander - would have to slither, hop or walk through traffic to cross the newly widened Parkway if the wildlife passages weren't built.
The DEP has told the Turnpike Authority it must build the tunnels to qualify for the permits it needs to widen the road.
The Turnpike Authority plans to spend $135 million to widen the Parkway from two lanes in each direction to three between Toms River and Manahawkin, a stretch of 17 miles.
Because it might want to expand other sections of the Parkway in the future, it has applied for permits to widen the full 50-mile stretch of the road between Toms River and Somers Point.
by Tom Feeney
Tuesday July 31, 2007, 9:07 PM
Snakes, frogs and salamanders may never be stuck in Shore traffic again.
The long-planned widening of the Garden State Parkway through the Pinelands will include a series of wildlife tunnels designed to let five threatened or endangered species of reptiles pass safely from one side of the highway to the other.
The passages and 6.7 miles of concrete walls to channel the reptiles into them and off the road will cost about $9 million, Turnpike Authority officials said.
The widening project will disrupt the habitats of 14 animals on the federal or state threatened or endangered species lists, a Turnpike consultant found. Nine of the animal species were birds. The other five - the timber rattlesnake, the northern pine snake, the Pine Barrens tree frog, the Cope's gray tree frog and the eastern tiger salamander - would have to slither, hop or walk through traffic to cross the newly widened Parkway if the wildlife passages weren't built.
The DEP has told the Turnpike Authority it must build the tunnels to qualify for the permits it needs to widen the road.
The Turnpike Authority plans to spend $135 million to widen the Parkway from two lanes in each direction to three between Toms River and Manahawkin, a stretch of 17 miles.
Because it might want to expand other sections of the Parkway in the future, it has applied for permits to widen the full 50-mile stretch of the road between Toms River and Somers Point.