Paved with Good Intentions

by Fran Withrow 11.2023

We sure do adore our roads, unless we are inconvenienced by them. Traffic jams, construction blockages, and poorly maintained expressways will have us tapping our feet in frustration and peeking at our phones. The world is criss-crossed with roads and more are being built all the time. But there is a downside to our love affair with roads, and it is a doozy.

Ben Goldfarb explores the far-reaching effects of roads in his fascinating book, “Crossings:  How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet.” Roads are a convenience, but Goldfarb shows how they are also detrimental to every sentient being on the planet.

You can easily guess that one problem is roadkill, which is not a new phenomenon. As early as 1910, people decried the death of animals who didn’t have enough time to get out of the way of these quick, new predators. We’re all familiar with those sad little carcasses by the side of the road as we speed by. And roadkill numbers are more massive than we see. Many animals crawl away to die, or are too small to be noticed by a passing motorist.

Roads block and alter rivers, which affect fish. Roads interrupt migration routes. Animals need to roam to survive, but highways can cut them off so severely they become trapped. Some species are so averse to these “moving fences” they starve and die, unable to access life-saving food just a few hundred feet away.

Amphibians, snakes, and turtles are less hesitant to cross roads, but are more likely to get squished since they are slower to run the gauntlet. And what about insects? Goldfarb says we are in an insect apocalypse, and I believe it. As a child, I remember our windshields spattered with insects after a trip. When was the last time you wiped a moth or butterfly off your car? 

And it’s not just the fact that animals and cars crash into each other. Traffic noise affects all manner of wildlife. Stress levels rise in both people and animals who live near high-traffic areas. People of color, whose communities are often forcibly divided by highways, are disproportionately affected by the noise and exhaust fumes emitted by vehicles. 

All this is discouraging, but Goldfarb also talks to researchers, scientists, concerned civilians, and others who are struggling to help. Engineers are creating special underpasses and bridges so wildlife can safely cross highways. Volunteers meet to carry frogs and turtles across roads, wildlife rehabilitators take in those orphaned by cars, researchers gather data that helps in constructing safer highway crossings. 

Some countries hold engineers accountable for road collisions, which cause millions of dollars in damage to cars and people as well as to wildlife. Thus it is the road designers rather than the driver who is responsible. A novel idea!

Our dependence on roads isn’t going away anytime soon. What other ways can we help alleviate the suffering associated with roads? Well, as Goldfarb said he drove down a road in Brazil, “On a planet preoccupied with speed, it felt good to go slow.”