New Brunswick building moose tunnels on Highway 7

Moose will soon have a new way to get to the other side of the road in one part of New Brunswick — tunnels.

The provincial government is trying to make the 97-kilometre stretch of road between Fredericton and Saint John, known as Moose Alley, a little safer for motorists and for animals trying to get to the other side by building wildlife underpasses.

The Transportation Department began digging the underpasses Monday along Highway 7. The department has already put up fencing along the highway to try to keep animals from wandering onto the roadway.

Norman Cloustin, district highway engineer with the Transportation Department, said the crossings would force animals — big and small — to go underneath the highway.

He said the concrete tunnels will be tied into 54 linear kilometres of moose fencing being erected along the highway.

"The fence along the highway will prevent anything bigger than four or five inches in diameter to cross. So, they’ll all have to cross underneath these structures," Cloustin said.

Between 2002 and 2006, 92 moose-vehicle collisions happened on Highway 7, killing one person.

Five wildlife crossings are being installed between Geary and Petersville, so motorists can expect some delays in that area this week.

The government began extensively installing moose fencing in March 2008 after Welsford resident Kathy McCollum collected more than 10,000 names on a petition calling for the government to protect highway travellers from migrating moose. McCollum's daughter was involved in a crash with one of the animals in 2006.

About 300 New Brunswick motorists will hit a moose this year, with most collisions happening between dusk and dawn when visibility is reduced and moose are hardest to see.

More people are injured or killed in moose-vehicle collisions in New Brunswick than in crashes with any other animal, the Transportation Department said.

In a collision with a car, a moose can be knocked off its legs and fall on top of the car. Weighing in at 450 kilograms or more, the moose can crush the passenger compartment.