Every fall and winter, elk meander their way down from Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Mountains and congregate in the Silver Valley near Interstate 90. Sometimes they try to cross the four-lane freeway, walking, leaping or sprinting through the stream of cars and trucks. But those interactions rarely end well for the elk or the drivers.
Now, however, there’s new hope for the animals and motorists passing through Silver Valley. Passionate locals have rallied to transform a defunct bridge in the small town of Osburn into a wildlife overpass.
Collisions between motorists and wildlife kill more than 350 million animals and 200 humans and injure more than 26,000 people in the U.S. every year. They are also expensive, costing over $8 billion in property damage annually.
But wildlife crossings aren’t cheap, either, especially if they’re built from scratch. According to the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, overpasses can run between $1 million and $7 million depending on their size and the surrounding terrain. Idaho’s first wildlife overpass, built near Boise at Cervidae Peak in 2023, cost $6.5 million.
By comparison, the Osburn bridge project came to about $645,000, with the primary cost going to fencing to funnel the wildlife toward the bridge. It’s common knowledge that elk, whitetail deer, coyotes and even moose cross the freeway near the bridge.
Community members use a Facebook group as a way to alert each other whenever there are animals on or near the section of freeway that runs through Osburn. Laura Wolf, a regional wildlife biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, noted that the stretch of I-90 where the overpass is located has the second-highest density of roadkill between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the Montana border.
“I-90 is such a barrier for wildlife in the region,” said Eric Greenwell, senior connectivity specialist at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, a conservation group. “It’s one of our priority freeways.”
The wildlife crossing was the brainchild of Osburn resident Carl Wilson, a long-haul trucker, avid outdoorsman and longtime supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. About a decade ago, Wilson began to wonder whether the dead-end bridge at the edge of town could be repurposed to help wildlife cross the freeway.
The bridge over the freeway and the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River was built in 1969 in anticipation of the town’s growth. But shortly thereafter, a mining company bought a parcel for stashing its mine tailings on the north side of the freeway, blocking residential expansion. Then, the company demolished half of the bridge. The section that was left crossed the freeway and then stopped abruptly in its tracks.
“At that point, it became the bridge to nowhere,” said Kirsten Voorhees, a fourth-generation Silver Valley resident and civil engineer.
“He never gave up.”
Wilson spoke to representatives from Idaho Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Transportation and the Shoshone County commissioners and knocked on doors to build community support. Voorhees described him as dogged: “He had no problem hustling,” she said. “He never gave up.” But by 2021, he realized he could use help from people with technical expertise. “One person can’t do it all himself,” he said. So Voorhees got involved.
For Voorhees, the issue was personal: When she was 16, she hit a whitetail deer on the freeway while driving alone late at night. Her sedan spun onto the shoulder, barely missing a light pole; law enforcement officers told her she was lucky to be alive.
One day in 2022, as they were talking over coffee, Wilson told Voorhees he was worried that he might not live to see the project completed. So he made Voorhees promise she’d see it through. “I told him, ‘You have my word,’” Voorhees said. “Whatever it takes.” Wilson died in December 2022 at the age of 80.
Voorhees was determined to keep her promise. “It became a blood oath,” she said. Grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative secured after Wilson’s death provided funding for the necessary fencing and bridge retrofits, which were completed in August.
Fencing was installed on the bridge so that spooked animals couldn’t jump off onto the freeway, and today it extends more than a mile in each direction on both sides of the road. In addition to directing animals toward the overpass, it also encourages them to use an underpass to the east. One-way gates in the fencing allow animals on the freeway to pass through to safety.
The repurposed crossing won’t last forever, however. The Idaho Department of Transportation plans to remove the bridge within 10 years; it needs repairs and lacks enough clearance for some semi-trucks. But even if it only lasts a short time, Voorhees said, the reduction in wildlife-human collisions will be worth it. She hopes that animals make good use of the bridge so that a new, higher wildlife overpass can be constructed in the same location.
In early September, I stood on the overpass with Voorhees and Wolf. Cars and semis whizzed beneath our feet, and the dull roar of traffic permeated our conversation as we paced over the crossing, imagining the critters that will follow in our footsteps. The bridge officially “opened” in August, and Idaho Fish and Game is monitoring the crossing with motion-activated video cameras. Several whitetail deer used it even before the fencing was completed, while a coyote appeared to consider it, but ultimately retreated.
Animal traffic is expected to pick up as ungulates migrate downhill to the valley floor. Both Voorhees and Wolf are proud to have helped Wilson achieve his long-cherished dream. And Voorhees hopes the bridge is eventually named after him: “People want to see him get credit for his final act,” she said.
Note: This story was updated to correct the names of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It was also revised to note that fencing on the bridge was installed, not heightened, and to clarify the roadkill statistic on the stretch of I-90 between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the Montana border.
This story is part of High Country News’ Conservation Beyond Boundaries project, which is supported by the BAND Foundation.
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This article appeared in the November 2025 print edition of the magazine with the headline “A forgotten bridge reborn.”
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