More than four million miles of public roads run through the U.S.: interstate highways, city expressways, two-lane rural roads, and unpaved local roads. Roads provide connection, access, and mobility; they allow people and goods to move freely from place to place throughout the country.
However, roads and other transportation infrastructure also affect the ecosystem, by disrupting the movement of wildlife and other natural processes. Rivers and floodplains are constrained or altered by bridges and levees; salmon are prevented from swimming upstream by culverts or other barriers; the movements of elk, moose, and cougars are restricted by highways that wildlife can’t cross.
Funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act presents us a chance to rethink the ways that transportation infrastructure interacts with the environment. There’s a tremendous opportunity now to accelerate ecosystem recovery, improve infrastructure longevity, and adapt to climate change all in a single investment.
Tribes, state agencies, local governments, and nonprofits are working together to plan and complete infrastructure improvements that contribute to Puget Sound ecosystem and salmon recovery. This relationship between the recovery and transportation sectors creates better outcomes for people, salmon, and the environment. Our new video showcases examples of this type of collaboration between the transportation and restoration fields.