The strip of red plastic stretched out at Hilochee Wildlife Management Area on Wednesday morning, a flimsy obstacle that wouldn’t stop the scrawniest fawn, signified the removal of an insurmountable barrier for animals.
A group of elected officials and state agency leaders watched as Jared Perdue, secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, snipped the ribbon to commemorate completion of a four-year project to replace the interchange at Interstate 4 and County Road 557. The ceremony took place just yards away from the southern mouth of a wildlife crossing under a raised section of I-4, the first such passage to be built in Polk County.
“The addition of the wildlife crossing will provide safe passage for animals to proceed to lands and safeguard drivers from potential negative interactions on the highway, keeping both our wildlife and our people safe,” said Roger Young, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “So it’s a win-win.”
Transportation leaders approved the $72.5 million project primarily with human safety in mind. The interchange at Exit 48 in Lake Alfred, a remnant of the era when I-4 had only four lanes, was outdated and dangerous, with abbreviated, tightly curved exit ramps and an overpass not high enough for modern standards.
Construction began in late 2020, and the project is now complete, one year behind the original predicted date.
Contractors removed a two-lane bridge over I-4, replacing it with a taller, four-lane overpass. The figure-eight exit ramps have given way to a pair of diamond-shaped double roundabouts.
The ambitious project provided an opportunity to build the wildlife underpass, which added an estimated $10 million to the overall cost. The 61-foot-wide passage under two spans of I-4 connects the northern and southern tracts of Hilochee Wildlife Management Area’s Osprey Unit, which covers 6,153 acres in Polk County.
The state-owned parcel lies within one prong of the Florida Wildlife Corridor, a swath of connected lands stretching from the Everglades toward the Big Bend and the state’s western border. First promoted by conservationists, the corridor has become a cause for elected officials, who have devoted millions in recent budgets toward land conservation projects seeking to keep the ribbon intact.
But wild animals encounter many human-made barriers, even in largely natural areas. I-4, built mostly in the 1960s, presents such an obstacle.
With the construction of the wildlife crossing, Florida panthers, Florida black bears and other animals are no longer blocked from moving north or south through the Green Swamp.
Crossing sought since 1992
During a gathering studded with elected officials, L.K. Nandam, secretary of FDOT’s District One office in Bartow, also called attention to two lesser-known residents, John and Marian Ryan of Winter Haven. The conservationist couple began calling for a wildlife passageway under I-4 in 1992.
Though John was not able to attend, Marian joined the better-known officials in posing for photos before the crossing.
“I'm going to be 70 (Thursday),” Ryan said later. “This is the best birthday present ever.”
John Ryan chaired the League of Environmental Organizations, which conducted a study on barriers to wildlife migration in the early 1990s. Marian Rayn was and remains a leader with the Sierra Club’s Ancient Islands Group.
“After all these years, it’s a relief to know they’re able to travel again,” Ryan said, referring to the large mammals previously blocked by the deadly expanse of I-4.
Ryan stood with Amee Bailey, a longtime planner with Lake Alfred, who recently left for a private-sector job. Bailey helped coordinate local elements of the massive project. Bailey pointed out that large animals need to roam across vast areas in order to maintain health gene pools.
The crossing occupies a gap where the bottoms of the two spans of I-4 stand about 12 feet above the ground. Tall chain-link fences running along both sides of the highway are intended to funnel animals to the opening, and fences create walls in the space between the two spans.
A shallow pool fills part of the crossing. On Wednesday morning, prints from tires and shoes covered much of the dirt, though some bird tracks could be discerned.
Perdue and Nandam credited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators for providing the funds to make projects such as the 557 interchange a reality.
Nandam acknowledged some of the elected officials in the audience, who included state Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City; Lake Alfred Mayor Mac Fuller, Vice Mayor Nancy Z. Daley and City Commissioner Jack Dearmin; Auburndale Mayor Dorothea Taylor Bogert; Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz and City Commissioner Guy LaLonde; and Davenport City Commissioner Linda Robinson.
The drone of vehicles whizzing past in the background amid the speeches emphasized the nonstop quality of traffic on Florida’s congested highways.
'Grand hotel' passage
Polk County Commissioner Neil Combee, one of the event’s speakers, noted that he was born in 1959, the same year that the first section of Interstate 4 opened in Polk County. He also talked of his ancestors migrating from South Carolina to what is now Polk County in the 1840s, a time when people were generally unconcerned about the fates of “critters.”
Combee mentioned Kuder Ranch, a property just to the east of Hilochee now protected by a conservation easem*nt through Florida’s Rural and Family Lands Protection Program. The property straddles I-4 and is connected by a narrow cattle crossing.
“And wildlife used it,” Combee said. “They’ve got photographs of (animals) going through there. So, obviously, this is going to be like the grand hotel, going through here. They’ll be like, ‘Look at this.’”
FDOT has placed cameras around the crossing, and a private partner, the fStop Foundation, a conservation nonprofit, affixed solar-powered cameras to columns on the bridges. Display boards set up beside the ceremony’s tent presented images of a panther, a bear and a deer, though those photos had been taken elsewhere in Florida, said Max Freund of the fStop Foundation.
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Panthers with GPS collars and bears have been documented in Hilochee. Cameras at the new crossing have already snapped photos of an opossum and an armadillo, said Brent Setchell, district drainage design engineer for FDOT’s District 1 office. He called that “very promising, considering the project is still under construction and there has been a lot of human traffic.”
Images captured by the cameras at the new crossing will be posted to the websites of FDOT and the fStop Foundation.
Construction of the wildlife crossing enabled FDOT to shift lanes wider apart, providing space in the median for the construction of express lanes and a high-speed rail at an unspecified future date, Nandan said.
Perdue drew attention to the pair of double-roundabouts designed into the new overpass. Those elements keep traffic moving and allow drivers to enter the ramps to I-4 without crossing traffic from the opposite direction.
“When it comes to safety, we have a vision, we have a target of zero fatalities on the transportation system,” Perdue said. “There is no greater tool to reduce fatalities at intersections than roundabouts. I'm very grateful that Polk County has embraced them as a tool. The data does not lie. They truly reduce fatalities — almost eliminate them completely — in intersections.”
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: FDOT celebrates Polk County's first wildlife crossing under I-4
