Two years ago, UDOT reduced the speed limit on 224 from 55 miles per hour to 45 between Meadows Drive and the Canyons intersection. Now Save People Save Wildlife want to see a further speed reduction between the Canyons and Olympic Parkway. SPSW Board member Tom Farkas told the council that the community is outraged over the recent killing of a mother and baby moose near Cutter Road.
“It wasn't just the mother and the baby moose but there were other wildlife that were killed," Farkas said. "Some of the people got so disturbed by it, that one person started a petition on change.org. I think today I checked it this afternoon are already pretty over close to 300 people that have signed that petition. And that petition basically said we need a crossing on 224 or some way to address this speed limit, to have the speed limit lower, so that there would be less likelihood for these vehicle wildlife collisions.”
Farkas says this is just a temporary request to deal with the wildlife killings that occur on 224 - which was identified as the 5th worst area in the state for vehicle wildlife collisions according to a wildlife/vehicle collision report prepared for UDOT in 2018.
A more permanent solution he says could happen as Summit County moves forward with its Bus Rapid Transit project along 224, when a wildlife crossing could be considered as part of the project’s environmental assessment. The wildlife overpass on Interstate 80 was built when UDOT added a westbound climbing lane.
“So, we know that the timeline for the bus rapid transit project on SR 224 is way off," Farkas said. "So, we're hopeful that we'll have those significant permanent measures included as part of that project. But we can't wait to until that happens to address what's currently happening with the number of deaths and collisions on SR 224.”
Summit County Council Member Roger Armstrong says the council can support making the request to UDOT – and directed county manager Tom Fisher do so.
“It's a 26 or 27 second difference in travel to go from 55 to 45 during that stretch,” Armstrong said. And I don't know about your experience, but my experience is, I expect to go 55 when I hit that sign that says 55, and I'm going 45 there now, almost constantly there's always a car too in front. That seems to think 45 is the speed limit anyway so I'm not sure we're losing a lot by doing that.”
While there are lot of wildlife collisions on 224, it’s not the only place it happens. Council Member Doug Clyde noted that Summit County has more than 300 miles of county roads where very little – if anything – is done to prevent animal collisions. As a resident of Oakley and someone who travels Browns Canyon often, Clyde called that road a "wildlife slaughterhouse.”
