Safety for Drivers and Wildlife

The agency operating Orange County’s newest toll roads will try again to improve fencing along the Eastern Transportation Corridor to prevent collisions between animals and cars. Earlier corrective measures were not enough.

Motorists have been fortunate to escape injury when colliding with wildlife in the rustic terrain. But 12 deer, 12 coyotes, five bobcats and a mountain lion have been killed. That’s a large death toll for a road open only seven months.

Environmentalists warned of the problem when the road connecting Irvine with the Riverside Freeway was still in the planning stages. The ribbons of concrete cut through a major nature preserve, and it’s not surprising that roaming animals will cross the road. The Transportation Corridor Agencies initially fenced both sides of the road, but a dozen animals were killed in the first three weeks of operation. The agencies then replaced wire strands along the top portion of the six-foot-high fences with mesh at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. Now officials have approved spending an additional $410,000 for more mesh and for barbed wire in areas where animals have been able to get through fencing.

The agencies should ensure that this fix is the last needed. Added fencing might deprive motorists of some picturesque views, but drivers need to be safe and animals must be kept off the road for their own sake.