What the Cameras Are Telling Us
- Jul 15
- 2 min read
Six months ago, we put cameras along the SR-224 corridor and asked:. How, when, and where do wildlife actually move through this place? We wanted the real picture of it, the way it happens hour by hour and season by season, rather than the version we assume or the one the maps suggest. The answers are the whole point of Phase 2.
The cameras are in various locations along the SR 224 corridor, documenting wildlife movements as the seasons change and the days become longer. How moonlit nights show an increase in movements. And now summer, when the whole landscape is on the moveand the roads are seeing more tourism traffic..
What we are building from all of this is a precise picture. Where animals approach the road. Where they hesitate. Where they get funneled into traffic and where they slip through safely. When you lay that against years of collision records, the corridor stops being a single problem and becomes a set of specific ones, each with a solution that fits.
That last part matters, because the honest answer to safe passage is not just one component. It involves fencing to guide animals to safe places to cross, the crossings themselves, and the aesthetic designs that are extensions of the landscape.. The Phase 1 framework runs from minimal interventions like enhanced signage and seasonal message boards, through targeted fencing and detection systems, all the way to transformative options like dedicated crossings paired with continuous fencing. The cameras are how we learn which areas indicate the most appropriate solutions.
We do not have to imagine where this leads, because the proof is nearby at Parley’s Summit.. A recentUtah State University study looked at the Parley’s overpass on I-80 and found something remarkable. Of the mule deer that approached it, 97 percent crossed. Of the moose, every single one. More than 35 species have used it, from porcupines to mountain lions. Wildlife vehicle collisions on that stretch have been reduced by 77 percent, and researchers state that the system has already provided a return on investment of $15 million dollars. Utah now has more than 50 wildlife crossings statewide, and the Parley’s overpass has become a local inspiration to implement more of these effective solutions.
SR-224 can be part of that story. By late fall, Phase 2 produces a report with prioritized, site-specific recommendations for this corridor. That report is what we take to UDOT, to the Division of Wildlife Resources, to Summit County and Park City Municipal, and to the funders who help turn recommendations into projects on the ground.
None of it happens without the patient work of the cameras and data collection, and none of that happens without the people who fund it. If you want the next stretch of safe passage to run through Park City, this is the moment it is being built, quietly, one frame at a time.
