Study calls for 22-mile stretch of fences on I-280 to prevent deer crashes

A 22-mile stretch of fences along both sides of Interstate 280 in San Mateo County would prevent dangerous and costly collisions between deer and cars, a UC-Davis study concludes.

The two-year, $322,415 study was funded by the California Department of Transportation and conducted by the University of California Davis Road Ecology Center.

Every year about 40 to 50 deer are hit by vehicles on Interstate 280, said Fraser Shilling, the center's co-director and author of the study. The section of highway between Millbrae and Woodside has more animal accidents than others because of its proximity to the county's open spaces, including Crystal Springs Reservoir.

"You've got some significant wildlife habitat right next to where people are driving 70 to 80 miles per hour," Shilling said Tuesday.

In September 2011, a few months before the study was launched, 27-year-old Santa Clara University assistant professor Daniel Strickland died after he hit a deer, stopped his car and was slammed into by another vehicle.

Even when drivers manage to avoid hitting deer and other animals that cross the highway, they're put in a perilous situation by having to swerve in traffic, Shilling said.

Caltrans is reviewing the recommendations in the UC-Davis study and has not "formally endorsed or rejected any of the proposals," Bob Haus, a department spokesman, wrote in an email Tuesday.

A deer fence should be about 8 feet tall to be effective, according to the study. It would cost about $100,000 per mile to construct, for a total of about $4 million, Shilling said. The cost could be lowered if some existing fences are heightened.

Although highway undercrossings can provide safe passage to deer and other wildlife, they need to be as free from humans as possible. And fences still would be needed nearby to prevent animals from accessing the road, the report states.

The study identified three main wildlife-vehicle collision hot spots -- a mile stretch between Hillcrest Boulevard and one mile south of Trousdale Drive, the Bunker Hill Drive crossing, and a half-mile span north of Farm Hill Boulevard.

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Study calls for 22-mile stretch of fences on I-280 to prevent deer crashes