MASS. — It’s something every commuter already knows. The roads around here can get pretty wild. But perhaps no one knows that better than wildlife biologist David Paulson.
He joined MassDOT in 2022 as an environmental analyst. He handles permitting and policy requirements for upcoming projects with one goal in mind. “How do you minimize any impact roads may have on wildlife, but also do some good work along the way?” he summarized.
This type of work often happens during repairs or improvements to existing roads or infrastructure. “It’s a pretty low-cost investment,” he said. “If you’re already replacing a culvert or bridge, making it a little bigger, adding a wildlife bench, it’s really insignificant.”
Boston 25 Traffic Anchor Catherine Parrotta met Paulson in Concord along Route 2. The highway received major improvements in 2015. And while commuters may have noticed the revamped roadway, they may not have paid much attention to an ordinary chain-link fence.
“It’s a standard highway fence that’s been entrenched in the ground. Animals can’t go underneath,” Paulson noted. The fence leads animals to a new culvert, which serves as a safe crossing under the roadway.
“It’s kind of dark in the middle, but you can still see through it. And so the goal of any wildlife crossing structure is to make it feel as natural as possible,” explained Paulson. Every feature of the culvert is intentional. The vegetation around the entrance is meant to blend in with the surroundings, while the sand and gravel inside feel like the natural ground. Paulson said the culvert is on the smaller size when it comes to deer crossings. But because of that, the agency was able to install more of these during the project. The question is, are animals actually using it?
Paulson pointed out three track beds in the culvert. After construction ended, MassDOT regularly checked the track beds for about five years. They, along with game cameras mounted on the walls, revealed plenty of foot traffic. “We’ve seen 43 different species ranging from things as small as a frog all the way up to a deer, bobcat, beaver, muskrat, coyote.”
Boston 25 accompanied Paulson on a walk through the culvert, where he spotted deer and bobcat tracks. He also found tracks from animals as small as a snake and a mouse. Using a track card, Parrotta also discovered some deer tracks. Each track serves as evidence that deer passed under the road rather than into traffic. “You think about having a collision with a deer, it can obviously cause injury, but also be expensive. And so every deer passage under this road reduces that risk in cost,” said Paulson. There’s always more work to do. Paulson says he’s now working on a bridge dam project in Wareham.
Modernizing the structure will also make it easier for fish to get upstream. And with each project comes a new opportunity to find out where the wild things are, and improve travel for them and us.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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