Bloomington Installs Wildlife Tunnel Under East Bush Lake Road
The City of Bloomington has replaced a storm sewer pipe under East Bush Lake Road with an innovative wildlife tunnel designed to protect turtles and improve road safety.
The project addresses what city officials identified as the highest turtle mortality location along East Bush Lake Road, particularly concerning because of its proximity to the Richardson Nature Center entrance where frequent vehicle turning creates additional hazards.
The new infrastructure expands the replacement storm water pipe and includes radial grates at street level that allow sunlight into the structure, creating a passage for wildlife while maintaining the pipe's flood control function between wetlands on both sides of the road.
According to city information, turtle deaths on roadways have significant ecological impact because older, larger turtles are the primary egg-laying population. When these reproductive adults are killed, turtle populations decline and average age decreases, reducing the number of individuals reaching reproductive maturity.
The city plans to install barriers to direct animals into the tunnel and will continue monitoring turtle crossing patterns and tunnel effectiveness. Officials noted that while the tunnel will reduce turtle road crossings, it cannot eliminate them entirely, emphasizing the continued need for careful driving in the area.
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- City of Bloomington installs wildlife tunnel to curb high turtle mortality rates on East Bush Lake Road.
- Infrastructure project leverages scheduled road surfacing to implement animal-safe crossing solutions.
- Road safety improvements designed to prevent driver swerving caused by turtles crossing high-traffic zones.
- Innovative use of radial grates provides natural light in storm sewer pipe to encourage wildlife tunnel usage.
Source document
[0:04] - The City of Bloomington
recently replaced a storm sewer
[0:07] pipe that crosses underneath
East Bush Lake Road.
[0:10] The reason there's a pipe
here in the first place is
[0:12] to stop the road from flooding.
[0:14] There's wetlands on both sides,
[0:15] so if water level gets high
on one side or the other,
[0:18] it can equalize between the pipe,
[0:20] or if the whole system has
high water, it can flow out
[0:23] to an overflow just downstream.
[0:25] The new pipe continues
to serve that purpose,
[0:28] but this one has a special ability.
[0:30] It can save animals and
improve road safety.
[0:33] The city has known for some time
[0:35] that East Bush Lake Road
is a hot spot for roadkill,
[0:39] especially for turtles.
[0:41] And this might be a bigger
deal than you think.
[0:43] When large older turtles are killed,
[0:45] those are the prime egg laying turtles.
[0:48] So that has a pretty big ripple effect
[0:50] across the population.
[0:51] Also, when turtles are just
always getting run over by cars,
[0:54] the average age of the
population goes down,
[0:57] so there's fewer individuals
that actually reach
[0:59] that prime reproductive age and size.
[1:02] Turtles on the street are
also an issue for road safety.
[1:05] People don't like running over turtles.
[1:08] So, when they see one in the street, all
[1:09] of a sudden when they're
going 40 miles per hour,
[1:11] they either are gonna stop really
[1:13] quickly or they're gonna swerve.
[1:14] They're gonna swerve
into incoming traffic,
[1:16] or they're gonna swerve on the shoulder
[1:17] where we're gonna have
walkers and bikers going by.
[1:20] A turtle roadkill study
found that across all
[1:24] of East Bush Lake Road,
this spot, the spot where
[1:27] that old pipe was,
[1:29] has the highest turtle
mortality in the entire section.
[1:32] This is one a problem
because it's killing turtles,
[1:34] but also it's very concerning
[1:36] because it's right next to the entry
[1:38] of the Richardson Nature
Center where a lot
[1:40] of people are turning in and out.
[1:41] So putting us all together,
[1:43] the city came up with a solution.
[1:45] We knew that one, we had an existing pipe
[1:48] that needed to be replaced.
[1:49] Two, we had a natural
concentration of turtles
[1:53] that were crossing the road
[1:54] in this section. Three, we had a need
[1:56] for increased road safety.
[1:58] And four, there was a scheduled
re-road surfacing project
[2:02] that's gonna be done by the county.
[2:04] So our solution, we
created a wildlife tunnel,
[2:07] we like to call it a turtle tunnel,
[2:09] that passes below the road.
[2:11] And we did this by expanding the size
[2:14] of the replacement storm water pipe
[2:16] and adding radial grates
at the street level
[2:19] that allow sunlight to shine
down into the structure.
[2:22] Wildlife crossings like this
actually work pretty well when
[2:25] they're installed in the right place
[2:27] and in the future, we're
still gonna add some barriers
[2:29] to direct small animals and
turtles into the tunnel,
[2:32] but the tunnel itself will
never fully remove the
[2:35] possibility that turtles
still might cross the road.
[2:38] So we still need your help.
[2:40] Drive safely, drive slowly
[2:42] and always keep an eye out for turtles.
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Other Topics from This Document
Storm sewer pipe replacement on East Bush Lake Road
Mitigation of turtle roadkill and population decline
Road safety improvements regarding animal crossings
Installation of wildlife turtle tunnel
Public awareness for driver safety and wildlife protection
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