SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan

Proposed road improvements to SR 94 provide an opportunity to mitigate the potential barrier effects of the highway. This project identifies where improvements to existing infrastructure on SR-94 could improve connectivity across the South County preserves, using Best Management Practices from the scientific literature; recommends wildlife movement monitoring to identify where new crossings are needed; and identifies where additional conservation would enhance the integrity of South County linkages. The review prioritizes infrastructure improvements of 35 existing undercrossings inspected by wildlife experts in the field along 14.6 miles of SR-94 where the highway bisects conserved lands. The majority of the recommendations for infrastructure improvement focus on increasing the diameter, and thus the openness ratio (cross-sectional area divided by length), of the undercrossing itself, removing vegetation and debris blocking the undercrossing, restoring habitat in the approach to the undercrossing, and installing fencing to both (1) keep animals off the highway and (2) funnel wildlife to the undercrossings.

Monitoring
Wildlife Movement
completed
Project Focus

American badger, Arroyo toad, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Blainville's horned lizard, Bobcat, Cactus Wren, California Gnatcatcher, California ground squirrel, Coyote, deer mice, desert woodrat, Encinitas baccharis, Golden Eagle, Gray fox, Greater Roadrunner, Harbison's Dun Skipper, Hermes copper, Jerusalem Cricket, Kangaroo rats, Least Bell's vireo, Mountain lion, Northern harrier, Orange-throated Whiptail, Orcutt's bird's-beak, Otay tarplant, Pallid bat, Quino checkerspot butterfly, saltmarsh bird's-beak, San Diego pocket mouse, Southern mule deer, Southwestern pond turtle, Southwestern willow flycatcher, Townsend's big-eared bat, Western burrowing owl, Western spadefoot, willowy monardella

Patricia Gordon-Reedy

Conservation Biology Institute

California Department of Fish & Wildlife; District 11, Department of Transportation, State of California; San Diego Management and Monitoring Program; San Diego National Wildlife Refuge; U.S. Geological Survey

Patricia Gordon-Reedy

Sarah McCutcheon

Patricia Gordon-Reedy

Strategic Elements
  • FY15-16 - 3.1
Project Location
San Diego
South-central, South-west
3
File name Lead Author Year Type
Appendix A. MSCP Species_SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
Appendix B. Roadkill by Segment_SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
Appendix C. Example Infrastructure Designs, Costs, and Schedules_ SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
Appendix D_SIMBA SR-94 Wildlife Crossing and Highway Expansion_SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
Appendix E. State Route 94 Culvert and Bridge Evaluation_SR 94 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
CBI 2016 Wildlife Infrastructure Plan for SR-94 Conservation Biology Institute 2016 report
SR-94 WILDLIFE CROSSING AND HIGHWAY EXPANSION Al-Shamas, Frank; Balan, Matt; Carranza, Jecelyn; Nouri, Daniel; Tran, Brian 2013 report