UDOT says wildlife fencing gap near site of semi accident is where previous project ended

The state is interested in installing more wildlife fencing or an overpass depending on future funding availability

by Eva Herinkov

The Park Record

July 3, 2025

A deceased elk lies along the stretch of highway where a wildlife collision involving a semi-truck closed the interstate for multiple hours last month. The stretch of I-80 near Kimball Junction is only protected by a barbed wire fence, not wildlife fencing. Credit: David Jackson/Park Record

Summit County residents have expressed concerns about what looks like an opening in the wildlife fencing along Interstate 80 near Kimball Junction after a semi-truck accident involving an elk shut down traffic for several hours last month.

Utah Department of Transportation officials said the so-called gap is actually just the end of its most recent fencing project.

“We put up wildlife fencing a few years ago. We started in Kimball Junction, and I would say it was about a mile of fencing,” said UDOT Region 2 Communications Manager Kylar Sharp. “I believe where the collision took place is where that fence line ended, but I wouldn’t say there’s a gap. It’s just where it ended.”

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