The TxDOT Monarch Butterfly Protection Project: Part 1
On a road trip one October afternoon about eight years ago, John Maresh stopped for lunch in Sonora, TX, and was greeted by massive, shimmering orange and black waves of Monarch butterflies on their annual migration journey.
[Above photo by Randy Jones for U.S. Fish & Wildlife]
Nearly all Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada migrate in October to the forested mountains of Central Mexico; a trip that takes the butterflies deep through the heart of Texas. Generally, Monarchs west of I-35 funnel down through West Texas, with those east of I-35 flying south to the Texas Gulf Coast.
Seeing the butterflies’ migration “was really cool,” Maresh said. But when he resumed his journey west after lunch, things turned ugly.
“It was disconcerting to be driving down Interstate 10…and you might miss one Monarch and you would hit another,” he said. “It was kind of horrific to see all these monarchs getting whacked on the highway.”
Maresh, a biologist and environmental specialist for the Texas Department of Transportation, wondered as he peered through his dirty windshield: “Is this predictable? Is this a phenomenon? Does it happen every year?”
Monarchs are important pollinators and part of the wildlife food cycle. However, their population has dropped dramatically over the past several years because of habitat loss and climate change.
[Editor’s note: Many state departments of transportation across the country are engaged in ways to support pollinator habitats, as the video below by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet exemplifies.]
But Maresh asked himself a more specific question: Are vehicular collisions also leading to the demise of the Monarch?
While preventing butterflies from becoming road kill is not a primary function of state DOTs, the consequences of not helping Monarchs thrive go beyond platitudes about environmental stewardship and could soon become a time-and-money issue for every state DOT in the country.
For, in December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to release a status assessment that could list the Monarch as an endangered species. That designation under the Endangered Species Act could have serious environmental consequences for all transportation projects that rely on federal funds.
And that’s where TxDOT’s potential solution for helping Monarchs safely migrate across roadways could prove useful.
[Part two of this article will explore a two-year-long pilot project TxDOT is conducting to aid butterfly migration.]
Utah DOT Conducting Big Cottonwood Canyon Study
The Utah Department of Transportation is conducting an environmental study that will evaluate the use of tolling and enhanced bus service to address winter-time traffic congestion management on state route 190 in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
[Above photo by Utah DOT]
That study – mandated Senate Bill 2 or “SB 2” passed by the state legislature in 2023 and set to conclude December 13 – directs the agency to seek ways to “provide enhanced bus service, tolling, a mobility hub, and resort bus stops for Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons.”
Potential improvements Utah DOT is considering as part of the environmental study include enhanced bus service for Big Cottonwood with buses running from a mobility hub near the canyon’s mouth every five to ten minutes during peak hours; enclosed bus stops at the resorts; minor road improvements to help the bus system; and a winter-season tolling system starting below Solitude Entry 1 with variable pricing.
[Editor’s note: The agency recently installed new remote-controlled avalanche mitigation equipment to enhance travel safety and improve the efficiency of avalanche mitigation efforts in the nearby Little Cottonwood Canyon area.]
“Big Cottonwood Canyon is a gateway to some of Utah’s best winter activities. We’re keeping this study focused on the improvements outlined in Senate Bill 2 to address the canyon’s transportation needs,” said Davin Weder, the agency’s project manager, in a statement.
“The road is already at capacity during peak times and our models show travel demand is expected to increase by 2050,” he added. “These public meetings and comment period are a great opportunity for people who visit the canyon to learn more about what we’re proposing as a solution and share their insights with us.”
Environmental News Digest – November 6, 2024
EPA Issues $3B Worth of Clean Ports Program Grants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently issued $3 billion in grants via its Clean Ports Program to 55 port projects across 27 states and U.S. territories.
[Above image by EPA]
Selected projects cover a wide range of what the EPA described in a statement as “human-operated and human-maintained equipment” used at and around ports, with the grants supporting the purchase of zero-emission equipment – including over 1,500 cargo handling units, 1,000 drayage trucks, 10 locomotives, and 20 vessels – as well as shore power systems, battery-electric and hydrogen vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, plus solar power generation systems.
The port projects selected for grants via this round of Clean Ports Program disbursements originally applied for two separate funding opportunities EPA announced in February 2024; a “Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition” to directly help acquire zero-emission equipment and infrastructure and a “Climate and Air Quality Planning Competition” to support climate and air quality planning activities.
Several state departments of transportation are also funding a variety of port initiatives on their own as well – for both sea and inland waterway ports.
For example, in August, the Washington State Department of Transportation awarded $26.5 million to 11 state ports to help them electrify their operations.
These are the first awards through the Port Electrification Grant Program created by the state legislature in 2023 and funded by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The WSDOT noted that all 75 public ports across the state are eligible to seek grants from this program, which is part of a larger statewide initiative to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector.
And in September, Kentucky issued $5.5 million in state funding to 16 Kentucky public river port projects as a way to “enhance economic activity and support future expansion” of waterborne cargo activity.
Those grants – administered by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet – will fund dredging, mooring and warehouse repairs, port equipment purchases and other needs.
Approved grants must be used to improve river port facilities and infrastructure for new construction and major replacement or repair projects, KYTC said – including but not limited to the improvement of docks, wharves, equipment, port buildings, storage facilities, roads and railroads to facilitate the flow of commerce through the port, other on-site improvements and related professional services
FTA Awards Transit Oriented Development Grants
The Federal Transit Administration recently awarded nearly $10.5 million in grants to support the development and preservation of affordable housing near public transit in communities across the country.
[Above photo by FTA]
Issued through the agency’s Transit-Oriented Development or TOD planning pilot program, that funding will support 11 projects in 10 states and play a key part in the Biden administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan by helping communities encourage public transportation ridership by developing housing and businesses near key transit corridors.
FTA noted in a statement that its TOD program seeks to create more opportunities for people to easily access rail and bus rapid transit stations, transit centers, and bus stops. The pilot program also increases access for people with disabilities who are transit dependent, especially those who need transportation to get to work.
The agency noted that, since 2015, it has issued approximately $133 million in federal support to fund TOD planning activities in 36 states. FTA added that that this is the third round of TOD planning grants (see here, here, and here) since the enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA in 2021; legislation that boosted TOD program funding by $68.9 million or 38 percent.
The Maryland Transit Administration – a division of the Maryland Department of Transportation – and the University of Maryland will receive a $1.6 million TOD grant via this round of funding to create a plan focused on retaining homes and small businesses along the Maryland Purple Line light rail system.
The plan will include strategies to address displacement caused by the new light rail line, currently under construction in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, in low-income areas to maintain housing affordability, green space, and environmental amenities.
Meanwhile, Maryland DOT – in partnership with the Maryland Economic Development Corporation or MEDCO – has launched a new joint strategy to spur development along the Maryland Area Rail Commuter or MARC Penn Line; laying out a vision for denser, mixed-use communities around transit hubs between Washington and Baltimore.
The agency said this new transit-oriented development or TOD plan provides a “blueprint” for unlocking economic opportunities at six train stops within the MARC’s Penn Line corridor.
The plan offers the potential to create at least 2,600 new housing units, generate some $1.7 billion in annual retail sales, and yield more than $800 million in tax revenue for the state over the next 30 years.
Other state departments of transportation are also working on TOD-related initiatives.
For example, in August 2023, the North Carolina Department of Transportation issued a study that explores the potential for TOD projects along the S-Line rail corridor, which is a key missing link between Raleigh, NC, and Richmond, VA – a corridor that aims to improve rail connections between the Southeastern U.S. and Washington, D.C., and places further north.
That examines how passenger rail service along the S-Line would leverage benefits for improved mobility and access for communities along that corridor; such as increased housing, downtown vibrancy, higher quality of life, and economic vitality, the agency pointed out.
Environmental News Highlights – October 30, 2024
Oregon DOT Unveils “State of the System” Dashboard
The Oregon Department of Transportation has created an online “State of the System” dashboard to highlight the department’s activities, goals, and progress in areas such as safety, equity, and mobility.
[Above image by the Oregon DOT]
Visitors to the dashboard can view information on how many tons of salt Oregon DOT uses on roads, the average evening drive speed on major highways, the value of contracts granted to disadvantaged business enterprises, average wait time to get a driver’s license, and hundreds of other data points.
The amount of information is massive but neatly organized into eight areas: safety, equity, climate, mobility, customer service, maintenance and operations, project delivery, and funding. The areas reflect the categories of the Oregon Transportation Plan – the department’s policy document – and the Oregon DOT Strategic Action Plan.
Like other state departments of transportation, Oregon DOT accumulates a lot of data, “but we didn’t have a centralized way to share it with people,” explained Matt Noble, a communications specialist with the agency.
“The bicycle and pedestrian folks saw the data they were interested in, but they didn’t get to see data from other sources,” he said. “It also was important for us to make sure it’s easy for people to understand.”
Each area has its own page that includes charts, graphs, photos, interactive maps, and links to programs, projects, and reports for those who want to take a deeper dive on specific subjects. For example, the climate page has detailed information on greenhouse gas emission measurements, electric vehicles, construction emissions, and how ODOT prepares for and responds to severe weather events.
While the department shares its successes on the dashboard, it doesn’t shy away from areas in which it believes it could do better. In the customer service category, the department says it is “wrestling with operations and maintenance budget shortfalls, reductions in customer-facing staff, retaining a skilled workforce and being a competitive employer.”
While many state departments of transportation – including Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, and Virginia – have online dashboards, Oregon DOT’s “State of the System” dashboard seeks to open the bulk of ODOT’s activities to the public, not just metrics on project delivery, budgets, and road congestion.
The dashboard gives the public an appreciation of the variety and sheer breadth of ODOT’s reach beyond building and maintaining roads and bridges. The site includes information on customer surveys, the biking and walking network, preventing vehicle-wildlife collisions, public transportation, the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and much more.
Showing the public that broad responsibility was another impetus in creating the dashboard, Noble said.
“We’ve noticed over the years that people in Oregon don’t have a good handle on the scope of things we do, and frankly, that’s not their fault,” he said. “We have to do a better job of telling the department’s story, and that’s one of the things we are trying to do with the dashboard.”
Oklahoma DOT Issues More than $36M in TAP Funding
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is distributing more than $36 million in Transportation Alternatives Program or TAP funding to 43 local projects that encompass sidewalks, safe-routes-to-school, pedestrian and bicycle trails, plus environmental or historical preservation endeavors as well.
[Above photo by Oklahoma DOT]
“This plan is designed to help improve community connectivity as well as active transportation infrastructure that is not on the highway system,” said Tim Gatz, executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, in a statement. “These projects highlight the important partnerships we have with communities across the state.”
[Editor’s note: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently issued an episode of its “State DOT 2-Minute Update” video series focused on the Oklahoma DOT, detailing the department’s initiative to improve safety on over 5,000 miles of rural two-lane highways by adding safety shoulders to reduce high fatality and severe crash rates.]
The agency said the 2024 TAP application process proved “highly competitive” with a total of 87 eligible project submitted for review. Oklahoma DOT noted that it worked with the Transportation Alternative Advisory Committee, which is comprised of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Department of Health, Safe Routes Partnership, and the American Association of Retired Persons to review and score those TAP applications.
The agency noted that the TAP began in the 2012 reauthorization of surface transportation programs, when the U.S. Congress approved the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” or MAP-21 Act, which consolidated several previous transportation, trail, and safe-routes-to-school project categories into one program to allow more flexibility at the state and local levels.
Through TAP, federal funds provide 80 or 90 percent of the total cost of the projects – depending on the population of the municipality – with the remaining funds provided by the communities applying for the TAP funds.
Other state departments of transportation also made recent TAP disbursements.
For example, the Kansas Department of Transportation recently issued $31.5 million in TAP funding to 31 projects statewide to create safer, more walkable and bike-friendly routes. Since 2019, via the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation or IKE program, Kansas has awarded more than $95 million for 122 TAP projects, the agency said – benefiting both urban and rural communities.
Calvin Reed, Kansas DOT secretary, noted that this year’s announcement marks the largest TAP grant award made by Kansas since the launch of this federal program. “By partnering with local communities, we can enhance our state’s transportation infrastructure while improving accessibility and fostering more connected neighborhoods,” he said.