A $20.8 million federal infrastructure project along U.S. Highway 30 south of Montpelier, Idaho is nearing the finish line, with three newly constructed wildlife underpasses designed to dramatically reduce the number of vehicle collisions that plague the Rocky Point area every year.
The Idaho Transportation Department project, funded through a federal wildlife crossings grant program, combines the three underground passages with directional fencing to guide animals safely beneath the roadway rather than across it. Construction is expected to wrap up this fall.
A Dangerous Stretch of Idaho Highway
The Rocky Point corridor on U.S. 30 sees roughly 100 wildlife-vehicle collisions annually, the overwhelming majority involving mule deer. Those crashes carry a significant financial toll — statewide, wildlife collisions cost Idaho an average of $143.7 million per year. Research shows that properly designed wildlife underpasses and overpasses can cut large-animal crash rates by as much as 97 percent, making infrastructure investments like this one among the most cost-effective safety measures available to transportation planners.
Local officials, state transportation staff, and wildlife advocates recently toured the construction site to review progress on the three underpasses. The visit highlighted how coordination between state agencies and federal grant programs is translating into tangible safety improvements along one of Bear Lake County’s most hazardous rural stretches.
How the System Works
The project’s design relies on a combination of physical infrastructure and animal behavior. Directional fencing channels wildlife toward designated crossing points, preventing deer and other large animals from wandering onto the road surface between the underpasses. ITD project manager Bo Frasure described the system’s core logic simply: “By funneling wildlife through underpasses, the animals are kept off the road and safely away from traffic.”, as first reported by the Local News 8
Dan Garren, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Southeast Region supervisor, told localnews8.com the project carries benefits well beyond wildlife management. “This project is about more than moving wildlife across the road — it’s an investment in public safety,” Garren said, underscoring that reduced collisions mean fewer injuries and fatalities for Idaho motorists, not just better outcomes for area deer populations.
The underpasses are sized to accommodate mule deer, the species most frequently involved in collisions along this stretch, though other wildlife traveling through the area are expected to use the crossings as well. The directional fencing system is a proven complement to crossing infrastructure, ensuring animals encounter the underpass entry points rather than attempting to breach the highway mid-corridor.
Broader Context for Idaho Drivers
The U.S. 30 project is part of a national push to reduce wildlife-vehicle conflicts on high-risk corridors, supported by federal wildlife crossings grant funding that has made large-scale projects financially viable for state transportation departments. Idaho’s annual $143.7 million average collision cost gives the state a strong economic argument for pursuing these investments wherever animal movement patterns and crash data point to concentrated risk.
Southeast Idaho’s rural highway network — which connects communities like Pocatello, Chubbuck, and the Bear Lake area — carries both local commuter and long-distance freight traffic through terrain that serves as migration corridors for mule deer herds. Reducing conflict points on those roads benefits residents, businesses, and the traveling public alike.
ITD has been actively managing traffic impacts across its southeastern Idaho project portfolio this season. Drivers in the Bannock County area should also be aware of southbound I-15 traffic shifts near Chubbuck connected to separate ongoing road work in the region.
What Comes Next
With construction expected to conclude this fall, ITD and Idaho Fish and Game will shift focus to monitoring wildlife use of the new underpasses and evaluating whether the directional fencing is performing as intended. Data collected over the first full migration seasons will help determine how effectively the corridor’s collision rate drops from its current average of approximately 100 incidents per year. If results match the performance benchmarks seen at similar crossing projects nationally, Rocky Point could see collision numbers fall to just a handful annually — a significant improvement for motorists and wildlife alike along one of Southeast Idaho’s most scenic and historically hazardous rural highways.